It would have been the first time astronauts will be launched to the ISS on U.S. soil after NASA retired the space shuttle in 2011. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as planned.
Main Takeaways:
- SpaceX and NASA canceled maiden voyage of the Crew Dragon Capsule to ISS.
- NASA cited bad weather conditions as the reason for aborting the mission.
SpaceX‘s historic launch to the International Space Station was set to launch on Wednesday, despite the COVID-19 lockdown.
“We are go for launch!” NASA chief, Jim Bridenstine had tweeted.
The hatch on the Crew Dragon Capsule had already been closed. Also, the launch party had retracted the access ramp to the spacecraft.
A video feed showed the astronauts, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, performing checks on their touch screens. The pair wore a futuristic white uniform with the U.S. flags and the logo of NASA and SpaceX.
The landmark launch was scheduled for 4:33 pm, from the Kennedy Space Center‘s Launch Pad 39A. That’s the same spot that Neil Armstrong and his Apollo crewmates lifted off from 51 years ago.
Despite the shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic, the mission had proceeded with the crew in quarantine for 14 days.
However, with only 16 minutes left on the countdown, the officials deemed the Weather unsafe for liftoff. Now, Space-X and NASA are postponing the launch due to poor Weather.
SpaceX wrote in a tweet:
“Standing down from launch today due to unfavorable weather in the flight path. Our next launch opportunity is Saturday, May 30, at 3:22 pm EDT, or 19:22 UTC”.
Scrubbing a Historic Launch due to Bad Weather
According to NASA officials, the “strength of electric fields in the atmosphere” is to blame. In other words, there was a thunder and lightning storm in nearby skies.
The managers had spent all morning monitoring a tropical storm over South Carolina and stormy conditions. There was also a tornado warning at the Kennedy Space Center launch site at Cape Canaveral.
“We gave it a good try, but we just couldn’t get there,” a SpaceX spokesman, John Insprucker, said. “We’ll come back another day.”
According to SpaceX, the next launch opportunity is Saturday, May 30, at 3:22 pm EDT, or 19:22 UTC.
For the launch to proceed, weather conditions must be perfect at the launchpad and dozens of other “abort” locations. It extends across thousands of miles across the Atlantic ocean, all the way to the west coast of Ireland.
“We understand that everybody’s a little bummed out,” Behnken said. “It’s just part of the deal. Everybody was ready today, but it’s just too bad … the ship looked great.”
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