ASA and SpaceX will not be launching their crew to the International Space Station as previously planned this week, due to severe weather conditions caused
by Hurricane Helene. Yesterday, September 24th, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that the mission has been pushed back to September 28th due to the Tropical Storm. The hurricane is expected to head up into the Gulf of Mexico and hit the Coast of Florida.
The wind from the storm is expected to reach 250 miles wide and can even become a Category 3 major hurricane by this Thursday.
NASA wrote in a post on their blog that “Although Tropical Storm Helene is moving through the Gulf of Mexico and expected to impact the Florida panhandle, the storm system is large enough that high winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Florida’s east coast,”.
Even more so, SpaceX is looking for a Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon Freedom to take off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 this Saturday, having as backups the dates from Sunday to Tuesday.
(SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft atop, Photo credit: SpaceX)“The change allows teams to complete a rehearsal of launch day activities Tuesday night with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, which rolled to Space Launch Complex-40 earlier in the day,” also writing that “Following rehearsal activities, the integrated system will move back to the hangar ahead of any potential storm activity.”.
The two astronauts, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov are staying at the Kennedy Space Center and will remain in quarantine until the launch of the spacecraft.
“NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are to launch aboard the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station on what will be the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. They will conduct research and perform maintenance activities during their five-month mission. The mission is launch from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.” wrote NASA.
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Even more so, the spacecraft will be operated just by the two of them in order for the safe return of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams when the Crew-9 mission ends next February. They will come back aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after back in June Boeing’s Starliner returned empty due to concerns over thruster failure and helium leaks that happened during the flight up.
As Boeing’s Starliner is still trying to achieve the mandatory certification for a safe flight, SpaceX remains the only U.S.-based launch provider of human spaceflight to the ISS, as part of the Commercial Crew Program by NASA. Even more so, SpaceX has performed eight successful operational missions, the Crew-9 mission being the ninth.
By
Daria Dondea
•
September 25, 2024 2:00 PM
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