Space station delivery from Virginia nixed at last minute

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Northrop Grumman delayed a space station delivery from Virginia on Sunday because of trouble with ground equipment.

The company came within two to three minutes of launching a cargo ship from Wallops Island to the International Space Station for NASA. With rain and clouds in the forecast this week, the launch was bumped to at least Thursday..

The capsule atop Northrop Grumman's Antares rocket holds 4 tons of supplies, including cheese and candy for the three space station residents. The astronauts were monitoring the countdown, but the live video feed cut off and they did not learn about the delay until Mission Control radioed the news a half-hour later.

SpaceX also is under contract with NASA to deliver station supplies. Its next shipment is in March.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.