SpaceX has postponed the launch of NASA’s first astronauts of 2024 until no later than Saturday (March 2) due to marine weather issues near the mission’s launch site in Florida.
SpaceX’s four-astronaut mission, called Crew-8, will lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket no later than Saturday evening at 11:16 p.m. EDT (0416 March 3 GMT) from Pad 39A of the US Space Agency’s Kennedy Space Center. At Cape Canaveral. This is the latest launch timeline slip, the launch date of which is set at February 22.
Read more: SpaceX Crew-8 astronaut mission: Live updates
“The joint team selected an enhanced launch opportunity due to forecasted adverse weather conditions on Friday, March 1 in offshore areas along the Dragon spacecraft flight path.” He wrote in a mission update Just after midnight on February 29th. “Strong winds and waves were observed along the East Coast and are expected to continue until Saturday morning.”
Unstable sea conditions could pose safety concerns for recovery teams if SpaceX’s Dragon capsule experiences a launch emergency that forces it to abort mid-flight and crash into the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
“In the event of an abort during launch or Dragon flight, wind and wave conditions must be within acceptable conditions for safe recovery for the crew and spacecraft,” NASA officials wrote in the update.
The four astronauts on SpaceX and NASA’s Crew-8 mission pose for a crew photo on the access arm of their Dragon spacecraft ahead of its planned launch on March 1, 2024 from NASA’s Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission will launch NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Janet Epps, and Russian astronaut Alexander Grebenkin to the International Space Station to begin a six-month mission in orbit. The astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth at the end of August.
NASA and SpaceX initially hoped to launch the Crew-8 mission on February 22, but delayed the launch until February 28, and then until after midnight on March 1, to allow more time between SpaceX’s previous launch on February 18 on the same date. bandage.
Crew-8 will mark SpaceX’s ninth manned flight for NASA under its multibillion-dollar agreement to transport astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX has been flying astronaut missions for NASA since May 2020. A second company, Boeing, is expected to begin manned flights for NASA in April using its Starliner spacecraft.
2024-03-02 03:07:20
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