Delayed again: NASA’s first crewed mission of 2023 pushed due to ground systems issue
This is the second time the SpaceX Crew-6 mission has been postponed. The original launch date was Sunday, Feb. 26, but it was nudged to Monday, Feb. 27. The current launch date is now Thursday, Mar. 2.
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – NASA’s first crewed mission of the year is now set to launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center early Thursday morning, with a takeoff window opening at 12:34 a.m. EST.
This is the second time the SpaceX Crew-6 mission has been postponed. The original launch date was Sunday, Feb. 26, but after a Flight Readiness Review by NASA and SpaceX, the date was nudged to Monday, Feb. 27.
Why the SpaceX Crew-6 launch was scrubbed
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station at 1:45 EST Monday, Feb. 27, was scrubbed.
(SpaceX / NASA)
Monday’s launch was scrubbed due to a ground systems issue. According to NASA, the issue prevented data from confirming a full load of the ignition source for the Falcon 9 first stage Merlin engines.
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"I’m proud of the NASA and SpaceX teams’ focus and dedication to keeping Crew-6 safe," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Human spaceflight is an inherently risky endeavor and, as always, we will fly when we are ready."
Shot of countdown clock in the foreground and the SpaceX Crew-6 in the background on the early morning of Feb. 27, 2023.
(Red Huber / Getty Images)
NASA noted that SpaceX has removed propellant from the Falcon 9 rocket and the Falcon 9 and Dragon are in a safe configuration.
The four members of the Crew-6 launch have left the Dragon spacecraft for astronaut crew quarters.
Crew-6 members include NASA astronauts Mission Commander Stephen Brown and Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
The goal of SpaceX Crew-6
The four SpaceX Crew-6 members pose for a portrait underneath a Falcon 9 rocket booster at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. From left: Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos; Commander Stephen Bowen and Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg, both from NASA; and Mission Specialist Sultan Alneyadi from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.
(SpaceX / NASA)
SpaceX Crew-6 will be the sixth operational human spaceflight mission to the International Space Station. NASA said the crew will rotate out with the astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission and spend up to six months on the ISS conducting scientific research.
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Brown, Hoburg, Alneyadi and Fedyaev will carry out more than 200 science experiments on the ISS, according to SpaceX.
Their investigations will range from continuing combustion research to testing tissue chips or small devices that imitate the functions of human organs to collecting samples from outside the ISS to see whether the spacecraft releases microorganisms into space.
![This image shows a 4-cm diameter sphere of acrylic burning in microgravity on the ISS.]()
Image 1 of 3This image shows a 4-cm diameter sphere of acrylic burning in microgravity on the ISS. (NASA)
![A preflight image of a BioCell developed by BioServe Space Technologies that contains 162 beating cardiac spheroids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These cells will be incubated and put under the microscope in space as part of the Cardinal Heart 2.0 investigation.]()
Image 2 of 3A preflight image of a BioCell developed by BioServe Space Technologies that contains 162 beating cardiac spheroids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These cells will be incubated and put under the microscope in space as part of the Cardinal Heart 2.0 investigation. (Drs. Joseph Wu, Dilip Thomas and Xu Cao, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute)
![In the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center, NASA astronaut Victor Glover tests collection methods for ISS External Microorganisms, which examines microbes released from the space station to help limit contamination on future exploration missions.]()
Image 3 of 3In the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center, NASA astronaut Victor Glover tests collection methods for ISS External Microorganisms, which examines microbes released from the space station to help limit contamination on future exploration missions. (NASA)
The new launch date of the Crew-6 mission
According to NASA, a launch opportunity on Tuesday, Feb. 28, will be foregone due to unfavorable weather conditions.
The next available launch window begins on Thursday, Mar. 2, at 12:34 a.m., should the issue that scrubbed Monday’s launch be resolved.
Forecast for SpaceX Crew-6 launch on Thursday, Mar. 2
(45th Weather Squadron / FOX Weather)
According to the 45th Weather Squadron, the weather conditions for the launch may include moderate winds in the staging area. The probability of violating weather constraints stands at 10% as of Monday afternoon, with the primary concerns being some rain and clouds.