Space station supplies launched, 2nd shipment in 2 days

A load of space station supplies rocketed into orbit from Virginia on Saturday, the second shipment in two days.

And another commercial delivery should be on its way in a couple weeks.

"What an outstanding launch," said NASA's deputy space station program manager, Joel Montalbano.

Northrop Grumman launched its Antares rocket from Wallops Island before dawn, delighting chilly early-bird observers along the Atlantic coast.

The Russian Space Agency launched its own supplies to the International Space Station on Friday, just 15 hours earlier.

The US delivery will arrive at the orbiting lab Monday, a day after the Russian shipment.

Among the 7,400 pounds (3,350 kilograms) of goods inside the Cygnus capsule: ice cream and fresh fruit for the three space station residents, and a 3D printer that recycles old plastic into new parts.

Thanksgiving turkey dinners rehydratable, of course are already aboard the 250-mile-high outpost. The space station is currently home to an American, a German and a Russian.

There's another big event coming up, up there: The space station marks its 20th year in orbit on Tuesday.

The first section launched on November 20, 1998, from Kazakhstan.

"As we celebrate 20 years of the International Space Station," Montalbano noted, "one of the coolest things is the cooperation we have across the globe."