NASA and SpaceX canceled Wednesday night the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket that was intended to extract astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station, where they have spent nine months, because of technical problems with the Boeing capsule.
About a half hour before the scheduled liftoff at 7:48 p.m. ET from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A, the mission was aborted due to a problem with the ground support clamp arm hydraulics, NASA said.
Later in the day, NASA said it planned to launch no earlier than 7:03 p.m. Friday, with a docking target of 11:30 p.m. Saturday. Mission management decided to “cancel the launch attempt” on Thursday because of high winds and precipitation expected along Dragon's flight path.
Meanwhile, another SpaceX launch took place later Wednesday from Florida. The second Falcon 9 lifted off at 10:35 p.m. from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The mission is for 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with direct-to-cellular capabilities. The launch, which had been delayed three times, landed safely on the unmanned spacecraft, A Shortfall of Gravitas, after 8½ minutes.
Neither SpaceX nor NASA have disclosed details about the hydraulic problem at launch during the previous flight.
The four crew members strapped into their seats in the Dragon capsule: two NASA astronauts, commander Anne McClain and pilot Nicole Ayers, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi.
The crew members were heading to the rocket in black Teslas. Elon Musk is the owner of SpaceX and the CEO of Tesla.
According to forecasters from the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral, the probability of favorable weather conditions was at least 95%.
“All aboard! #Crew10 is now aboard and has completed communications checks inside the @SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in preparation for its 7:48 p.m. ET launch to @Space_Station,” NASA said on X.
The launch is a joint mission between NASA and SpaceX.
In addition to Wilmore and Williams, Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov are also planning to return to Earth.
NASA said in an online statement Thursday that the four returning astronauts spent more than 900 hours in research, including more than 150 “unique science experiments and technology demonstrations during their time aboard the orbiting laboratory.”
Wilmore and Williams have been in space since June 2024, participating in the first crewed test flight of Boeing's Starliner.
Their mission aboard the ISS was originally planned for a week, but due to problems with the Boeing capsule that was supposed to return them to Earth, NASA and Boeing chose to leave them in space while their ship returned successfully in unmanned mode.
In August, NASA announced it intended to return Williams and Wilmore to Earth on a SpaceX spacecraft in February. However, in December, NASA said the mission would be delayed until the end of March due to problems with SpaceX's new Crew Dragon capsule.
“This is my happy place,” Williams shared in September. “I love being out here in space. It’s just fun. You know, every day you do something that’s work — quote, unquote — you can do it upside down. You can do it sideways, so it adds a whole different perspective.”
As a result, two astronauts joined the team that was already on board the ISS and helped them complete the mission.
The new crew will spend several months aboard the ISS, conducting spacewalks, demonstration studies and experiments for the benefit of humanity and for deep space exploration.
Sourse: www.upi.com
