Expedition of a space station launched from the seaside of Virginia

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – A new grocery store exploded Wednesday to the International Space Station after being launched from the Virginia waterfront.

Antares rocket Northrop Grumman took off from Wallops Island. The company's Cygnus capsule is expected to arrive at the space station on Friday, just in time for Easter.

NASA announced that the six residents of the space station, including smoked turkey, pork chops, asparagus and shoemaker, were climbing. In total, more than 800 meals are hidden.

The 7,600-pound (3,450-kilogram) load also included three free flying robots to be tested as astronaut aids, 40 black lab mice, and 63 tiny student search satellites.

The crew of the station will test two of the cube-shaped Astrobee robots, while the third, called Seeker and the size of a bread, will wait for the departure of the Cygnus in July before being released and fly into orbit. Mice are part of the tetanus toxoid test.

This Cygnus is named after S. Roger Chaffee, in honor of the youngest of the three astronauts who died during the fire of the Apollo 1 spacecraft of 1967.

Northrop Grumman said he would honor Chaffee before the 50th anniversary of the first inhabited lunar landing, because he made the ultimate sacrifice without ever reaching the space.

Another space station is expected to be delivered by the end of the month. SpaceX, NASA's other commercial shipper, is scheduled to launch an expedition from Florida on April 26th. SpaceX Dragon capsules have been delivering from the station since 2012 and Cramnus capsules from Northrop Grumman since 2013.

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