Hurricane Ian Forces Delay of Next SpaceX Crewed Mission to ISS

With Hurricane Ian reaching Florida later in the present day, NASA and SpaceX have properly determined to postpone the launch of the Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station.

The mission was initially slated to launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Monday, October 3 at 12:46 p.m. ET, however NASA and SpaceX have pushed the date again to Tuesday, October 4, with the launch window opening at 12:23 p.m. ET. This is all climate relying, after all. As the identify suggests, Crew-5 is the fifth crewed SpaceX mission beneath a NASA Commercial Crew Program contract.

NASA and SpaceX accomplished a nine-hour flight readiness evaluate on Monday, through which no main technical points have been recognized, thereby clearing the mission for launch. “We went through a very thorough review of lots of different parts of the vehicle,” Steve Stich, supervisor of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, advised reporters throughout a press briefing on Monday. At the time of the briefing, the launch was nonetheless on monitor for its unique date, however the scenario modified some 24 hours later because the hurricane’s projected course and energy got here into focus.

Needless to say, the area company is preserving a detailed watch on the raging storm. “Here at Florida, we’re no strangers to hurricanes,” Kelvin Manning, deputy director of Kennedy Space Center, stated through the press briefing. Hurricane Ian is expected to slam into Florida late Wednesday as a Category 4 storm, with tropical storm-force winds more likely to attain Kennedy Space Center, according to the newest NOAA projections.

The storm had already foiled NASA’s plan to launch its inaugural Artemis 1 mission to the Moon on September 27. The pending arrival of the storm pressured the area company to roll its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket again to the Vehicle Assembly Building for shelter. It’s nonetheless not clear how a lot of an influence the hurricane may have on Kennedy Space Center, however ought to the storm drive NASA to delay Tuesday’s launch of Crew-5 to the ISS, the area company has loads of backup launch dates accessible, with home windows showing on October 5, 7, and 9, as NASA officers defined on the Monday briefing.

The SpaceX Crew-5 mission consists of NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, who will function mission commander and pilot, respectively. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina will function mission specialists. The four-person crew is ready to spend six months aboard the ISS to conduct analysis and carry out upkeep duties. Once the crew members arrive on the ISS, their predecessors, Crew-4, will depart a couple of days later to make their return to Earth, splashing down off the coast of Florida in Crew Dragon Freedom.

Before she hops on that experience again to Earth, Crew-4 member Samantha Cristoforetti will function ISS commander. Her reign begins in the present day, however it would solely final for per week. That stated, she’s already made historical past for being the first European girl to function ISS commander.

Kikina is poised to be the primary Russian cosmonaut to experience aboard a Crew Dragon, on this case Endurance. Her participation in Crew-5 comes as a part of a current seat-swap settlement with NASA that noticed NASA astronaut Frank Rubio launch to the ISS on board a Soyuz rocket earlier this month. The seat-swap comes throughout a time of geopolitical tensions, the results of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the European Space Agency and different area business gamers to cancel initiatives with Russia’s area company.

“We’ve continued to appreciate that we’ve had a very professional relationship with our Russian colleagues,” Kathryn Lueders, affiliate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, stated through the press briefing. “I know that we still have things to work through, but on at a working level, we really appreciated the constancy and the relationship even during some really, really tough times geopolitically.”

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