NASA-SpaceX Delays Crew-10 Launch to Retrieve Stranded Astronauts
At the eleventh hour, SpaceX delayed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, which was to take Crew-10 astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and replace stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. The launch was deferred within less than an hour of launch from Launch Complex 39A of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, owing to a hydraulic system malfunction of a ground support clamp arm.
NASA and SpaceX now have a new launch window no earlier than 7:03 pm EDT (4:33 am IST) on Friday, March 14. Mission planners postponed the attempt once again because of high winds and rain expected along Dragon's route. Astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers (NASA), Takuya Onishi (JAXA), and Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos) have safely left the Dragon spacecraft, and the rocket is safe.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon was first going to return Williams and Wilmore to Earth by March 19. NASA had set up a rapid turnaround in order to conserve the precious supplies on board the ISS.
In spite of the delay, crew safety and mission success are still the priority. SpaceX and NASA engineers are making efforts to correct the technical problem, ensuring a safe and successful launch of Crew-10 and the return of their colleagues on the ISS in a timely manner.
