SpaceX, NASA watching Tropical Storm Helene track toward Florida ahead of Crew-9 launch
The earliest possible launch window for Crew-9 is Thursday at 2:05 p.m. ET, but the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron is closely monitoring Helene expected to make landfall on the opposite side of Florida.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Mission managers are closely watching the forecast track for Tropical Storm Helene as SpaceX and NASA prepare to launch one American astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying two men into orbit on Thursday afternoon from Florida's Space Coast. However, Helene is set to make landfall on Florida's opposite coast sometime late Thursday, potentially as a major hurricane.
NASA, SpaceX and Roscosmos completed a Flight Readiness Review for the Crew-9 mission on Monday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Managers said the earliest possible launch window is Thursday at 2:05 p.m. ET, but the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron is closely monitoring Helene.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague (left) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission no earlier than 2:05 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept.. 26
(SpaceX)
SpaceX teams rolled the rocket to Launch Complex 40 on Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This will be SpaceX's first human spaceflight at this launchpad. All the company's previous launches with crew took place up the road at neighboring NASA's Kennedy Space Center launchpad 39A.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon for the Crew-9 mission on top of the Falcon 9 rocket at LC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
(SpaceX)
With the storm approaching the Gulf Coast on Wednesday and Thursday, the weather might be good enough for a rocket launch, but calm seas and conditions are also needed in the Atlantic, where the Dragon would land in the event of a launch abort. Rain, lightning, wind and cloud cover can delay a rocket launch.
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This graphic shows the forecast track for Tropical Storm Helene.
(FOX Weather)
When the launch happens, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will dock at the ISS and spend about five months in space.
When they return, the Crew-9 astronauts will be joined by NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who arrived at the ISS in June on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. The astronauts will be returning to Earth via SpaceX due to issues with the Starliner, forcing NASA to make the decision to return the Starliner to Earth earlier this month without its test flight crew.