Key takeaways:
- The launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying a four-man crew was called off with less than three minutes to go due to a technical issue.
- The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, designed to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station.
- The next attempt to launch the mission could come as early as Tuesday, although poor weather was forecast up the East Coast in the emergency recovery area.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying a four-man crew bound for the International Space Station was called off with less than three minutes to go early Monday due to a technical issue.
The mission, which was the first non weather-related scrub in SpaceX’s history, was set to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The crew, which included commander Stephen Bowen, Warren “Woody” Hoburg, cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and Emerati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, the first Arab assigned to a long-duration station flight, waited patiently inside the spacecraft while the rocket’s propellants were drained away.
The issue was with a system used to ignite the Falcon 9’s first stage engines. SpaceX’s closeout team then returned to the pad, opened the capsule’s side hatch and helped the crew climb out of the vehicle for the drive back to NASA crew quarters.
The next attempt to launch the mission could come as early as Tuesday, although poor weather was forecast up the East Coast in the emergency recovery area. SpaceX and NASA teams are currently assessing the issue and working to resolve it in time for the next launch window.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which is designed to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. The mission will be the first operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft and the first time a commercial spacecraft has carried astronauts to the space station.
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