CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Final-minute technical hassle pressured SpaceX to name off Monday’s try to launch 4 astronauts to the Worldwide House Station for NASA.
The countdown was halted with simply two minutes remaining till liftoff from Kennedy House Heart. With only a cut up second to blast off, there was no time to cope with the issue, which concerned the engine ignition system.
SpaceX didn't instantly say when it could strive once more. The subsequent try might come as early as Tuesday, though poor climate was forecast up the East Coast within the emergency restoration space.
Strapped into the capsule atop the Falcon rocket have been two NASA astronauts, one Russian cosmonaut and one astronaut from the United Arab Emirates. They needed to wait till all of the gasoline was drained from the rocket — an hourlong course of — earlier than getting out.
“We’ll be sitting right here ready,” commander Stephen Bowen assured everybody. “We’re all feeling good.”
Bowen and his crew — together with the primary astronaut from the United Arab Emirates assigned to a monthslong mission, Sultan al-Neyadi — will substitute 4 house station residents who've been up there since October.
Officers mentioned the issue concerned floor gear used for loading the engine ignition fluid. The launch crew couldn't make certain there was a full load. A SpaceX engineer likened this essential system to spark plugs for a automobile.
___
The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives assist from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Instructional Media Group. The AP is solely answerable for all content material.
Post a Comment