CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s subsequent astronaut launch for NASA has been delayed once more.
The U.S. space company and SpaceX have pushed the launch of the Crew-3 mission, which can ship 4 astronauts to the International Space Station, from Saturday (Nov. 6) to Monday (Nov. 8) on the earliest, due to anticipated dangerous climate over the approaching days.
NASA and SpaceX are additionally now contemplating whether or not to deliver the 4 astronauts of the earlier mission, Crew-2, again all the way down to Earth earlier than sending Crew-3 skyward.
Live updates: SpaceX’s Crew-3 astronaut mission
A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket have been initially scheduled to launch Crew-3 early Sunday morning (Oct. 31) from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center right here in Florida. But earlier than the crew might climb aboard, NASA introduced a 72-hour delay, citing poor climate situations alongside the rocket’s flight path.
Then, a minor medical issue cropped up with one of many astronauts, forcing the company to push the launch out to no sooner than 11:36 p.m. EDT on Saturday (Nov. 6; 0336 GMT on Nov. 7). However, Mother Nature has now nixed that plan, because the climate situations all weekend look fairly poor, based on forecasters on the forty fifth Space Delta right here at Cape Canaveral.
So NASA and SpaceX are rethinking their plans for each launch and splashdown.
“Mission teams are now considering whether to return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission from the space station ahead of launching the next crew rotation due to the associated weather conditions for both launch and recovery operations,” company representatives wrote in a blog post on Thursday (Nov. 4).
The Crew-2 astronauts at the moment on station — NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, together with European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency spaceflyer Akihiko Hoshide — have been initially slated to return residence on Thursday, assuming the Crew-3 quartet of NASA’s Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron and ESA’s Matthias Maurer launched on Oct. 31.
The unique Crew-3 delay to Wednesday (Nov. 3) put Crew-2’s earliest departure on Nov. 7. However, the climate is an important consider figuring out when every mission both will get off the bottom or splashes down.
Crew-2, which launched in April, is in a little bit of a time crunch, since its Dragon spacecraft is rated to remain in space for roughly 210 days, or 7 months. With that deadline quick approaching, and the climate trying bleak, NASA could resolve to deliver that mission residence first.
“These are dynamic and complex decisions that change day by day,” Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew program supervisor mentioned within the weblog publish. “The weather in November can be especially challenging, so our goal is to move forward on the plan with the highest probability of mission assurance and safety.”
The earliest Crew-2 might come house is now Sunday (Nov. 7), whereas the earliest that Crew-3 might launch is Monday night time (Nov. 8). NASA says it’s going to proceed to observe climate situations each on the Cape and downrange to find out the most effective plan of action within the subsequent few days.
The Crew-3 astronaut’s medical subject is anticipated to clear up by launch day, NASA officers mentioned.
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