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Aug. 25 (UPI) — NASA’s Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station was canceled approximately 5 hours prior to the scheduled launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with four astronauts on board at 03:49 a.m. EDT Friday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The launch was called off late Thursday evening during a final readiness meeting with NASA and SpaceX mission managers, who announced that the new targeted launch time would be Saturday at 03:27 am EDT, with a backup option for Sunday morning at 03:04 a.m. EDT, as noted in a blog post by NASA.
The docking of the Crew Dragon Spacecraft with the ISS, which orbits 250 miles above Earth, has been rescheduled for 08:50 a.m. EDT Sunday, pending a successful launch on Saturday.
The weather forecast for Saturday’s rescheduled launch predicts a 95% chance of favorable conditions, with a low probability of rain or storms delaying liftoff from Launch Complex 39A, according to the U.S. military unit responsible for providing detailed forecasts for air and space operations in the United States.
The decision to abort the launch was made after teams determined that more time was needed to ensure safety and operational margin for one of the Dragon spacecraft’s environmental control and life support system components. NASA stated that the new launch date allows for additional analysis and thorough review of necessary data prior to launch.
The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft remain in good condition, with teams working on completing and discussing the final results of the additional analysis. The crew, consisting of Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency, Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Konstantin Borisov of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, will spend six months aboard the space station conducting various scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, research, and maintenance tasks.
The Crew Dragon capsule was previously used for NASA’s Crew-3 and Crew-5 missions. The Falcon rocket’s stage 1 booster stage will be jettisoned about 9 minutes after lift-off and will descend to land on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
German-born Jasmin Moghbeli, the mission’s commander, will be joined by Mogensen as the spacecraft pilot and Borisov as the flight engineer. They will join the Crew-6 astronauts currently aboard the ISS and return to Earth on September 2nd.
Despite the delay, the Crew-7 mission remains optimistic and ready for launch once the necessary preparations are complete. This launch delay ensures that safety continues to be the top priority for everyone involved.
Overall, this delay provides an opportunity for further analysis and review, ensuring that the mission proceeds smoothly and successfully when the time comes.
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