Drone operators are being urged to
exercise caution if using their aircraft to view the Antares rocket
launch and avoid flying over the public and
NASA Wallops Flight
Facility property in Virginia on Sunday.
Drones, also called unmanned aerial
systems, should stay clear of Wallops Flight Facility, the marsh
areas between Wallops Island and the mainland and the Atlantic Ocean
east of Wallops Island. A Temporary Flight Restriction and other
Special Use Airspace will be activated by the Federal Aviation
Administration. Fines and penalties are applicable and will be
enforced, NASA said in a notice posted on their website.
“There will be several thousand
people in the area viewing the launch,” the agency said. “Public
safety is paramount and drones should not be flown over crowds. The
Wallops Range is committed to making sure that the viewing public is
safe and that drones do not pose a threat to the success and safety
of launch operations.”
The
Northrop Grumman Antares rocket
will launch at 5:39 p.m. EST from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport
at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
The launch may be visible, weather
permitting, to residents throughout the mid-Atlantic region and
possibly the East Coast of the United States.
This will be Northrop Grumman’s 13th
commercial resupply services mission to deliver NASA science
investigations, supplies and equipment to the International
Space Station.
