NASA orders rare medical delay in launch of SpaceX mission to space
station
Send a link to a friend
[November 03, 2021]
By Joe Skipper and Steve Gorman
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) -NASA
announced on Monday a rare, health-related delay in its SpaceX rocket
launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station, the second
postponement of the mission in a week, citing an unspecified medical
issue with one of the crew.
NASA said the issue was "not a medical emergency and not related to
COVID-19," but the space agency declined to elaborate on the nature of
the problem or say which astronaut was involved.
The launch, originally set for Sunday but then postponed until this
Wednesday because of unsuitable weather conditions, has now been
rescheduled for Saturday night, NASA said.
The last time NASA delayed a scheduled launch over a medical issue
involving the crew was for a Space Shuttle Atlantis flight in 1990, when
mission commander John Creighton fell ill. The countdown was halted for
three days until he was cleared to fly, according to NASA.
That delay was followed by two additional weather-related postponements.
The SpaceX-built vehicle set to fly this weekend, consisting of a Crew
Dragon capsule perched atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, is now set for
liftoff at 11:36 p.m. on Saturday (0336 GMT Sunday) from NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
If all goes smoothly, the three U.S. astronauts and their European Space
Agency (ESA) crewmate will arrive 22 hours later and dock with the space
station 250 miles (400 km) above the Earth to begin a six-month science
mission aboard the orbiting laboratory.
[to top of second column]
|
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on the launch pad behind the
pictures of crew members on the countdown clock, as final
preparations are made for the Crew 3 mission to the International
Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
Florida, U.S. October 29, 2021. Launch is scheduled for October
31. REUTERS/Joe Skipper
For the time being, the four crew members will remain under routine
quarantine at the Cape as they continue launch preparations, NASA said.
Joining the mission's three NASA astronauts - flight
commander Raja Chari, 44, mission pilot Tom Marshburn, 61, and mission
specialist Kayla Barron, 34 - is German astronaut Matthias Maurer, 51,
an ESA mission specialist.
Chari, a U.S. Air Force combat jet and test pilot, Barron, a U.S.
Navy submarine officer and nuclear engineer, and Maurer, a materials
science engineer, are all making their debut spaceflights aboard the
Dragon vehicle, dubbed Endurance.
Marshburn, a physician and former NASA flight surgeon, is the most
experienced astronaut of the crew, having logged two previous
spaceflights and four spacewalks.
Saturday's liftoff, if successful, would count as the fifth human
spaceflight SpaceX has achieved to date, following its inaugural
launch in September of a space tourism service that sent the first
ever all-civilian crew into orbit.
The latest mission would mark the fourth crew NASA has flown to the
space station with SpaceX in 17 months, building on a public-private
partnership with the rocket company formed in 2002 by Musk, founder
of electric maker Tesla Inc.
(Reporting by Joe Skipper at Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Writing and
additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by
Peter Cooney)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |