Resupply Mission To International Space Station Delayed Due To Black Mold

The fifth Orbital ATK resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is being delayed by over a week as NASA is trying to pinpoint the source of black mold that has contaminated cargo bags.

“Micro-organisms are everywhere and this type of micro-organism is not uncommon,” Dan Huot, a spokesman at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said as quoted by Florida Today on Wednesday.

An Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft was scheduled to go to the ISS on United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket on March 10, but the launch is being rescheduled until at least March 22, according to ULA.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be disinfecting all cargo bags ahead of the launch, even though black mold was found only in two bags, according to Florida Today.

The previous Cygnus resupply mission was launched in December 2015. It was Orbital ATK’s fourth resupply mission to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with the company. (PNA/Sputnik) JBP/CDN