CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX has bumped its next astronaut flight for NASA until Saturday, first because of rough wind and waves hundreds of miles away, then due to a medical issue with one of the astronauts.
Four astronauts were supposed to blast off last Sunday morning on a six-month mission to the International Space Station. But while the forecast at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center was near perfect, a large storm in the Northeast had the sea churning farther up the coast. The safety violation prompted managers on Saturday to move the launch.
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For crew launches, SpaceX requires good weather all the way up the Eastern Seaboard and across the North Atlantic to Ireland, in case something goes wrong and the capsule has to make an emergency splashdown.
Then on Monday, the space agency delayed until at least Saturday because of a “minor medical issue” with one of the crew members. NASA said the medical issue was not COVID-related or an emergency but did not offer any additional details.
The one German and three U.S. astronauts will remain at Kennedy until then.
This will be SpaceX’s fourth astronaut flight for NASA in 1½ years and the company’s fifth passenger flight overall. Last month, SpaceX launched its first private flight, sending a billionaire and his three guests into orbit.
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