CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A launch pad drawback prompted SpaceX to delay a flight to the Worldwide Area Station on Wednesday to switch NASA’s two caught astronauts.
The brand new crew must get to the Worldwide Area Station earlier than Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head house after 9 months in orbit.
Issues over a vital hydraulic system arose lower than 4 hours earlier than the Falcon rocket’s deliberate night liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart. Because the countdown clocks ticked down, engineers evaluated the hydraulics used to launch one of many two arms clamping the rocket to its help construction. This construction must tilt again proper earlier than liftoff.
Already strapped into their capsule, the 4 astronauts awaited a last choice, which got here down with lower than an hour remaining within the countdown. SpaceX canceled for the day. The corporate didn’t instantly announce a brand new launch date, however famous the subsequent strive may very well be as early as Thursday evening.
As soon as on the house station, the U.S., Japanese and Russian crew will change Wilmore and Williams, who’ve been up there since June. The 2 check pilots needed to transfer into the house station for an prolonged keep after Boeing’s new Starliner capsule encountered main breakdowns in transit.
Starliner’s debut crew flight was imagined to final only a week, however NASA ordered the capsule to return empty and transferred Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX for the return leg.
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