Did we jinx it? Rocket-watchers get colossal fireworks display

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The other night we tipped readers to what promised to be a spectacular celestial show: A rocket streaking across the night sky to ferry supplies to the International Space Station.

But the unmanned Antares flight got scrubbed on Monday.

On Tuesday, rocket-watchers got their show, and it was spectacular — but not the kind of spectacular that NASA or contractor Orbital Sciences were hoping for.

Space travel is “a really tough business,” conceded NASA Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier, after  5,000 pounds of supplies and $200 million of rocketry erupted into a fireball above the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Ironically, the launch was postponed on Monday for concerns about safety of a boat that was down range of the launch trajectory.

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