SpaceX Crew-6 will make next launch attempt on March 2, says Nasa
- 27 Feb 2023
Gulf Today Report
Nasa has called off SpaceX Crew-6 launch to ISS in final minutes of countdown citing ground system issue on Monday.
Nasa said on Twitter, “Today's Crew6 launch has been scrubbed due to an issue with ground systems. Stand by for details on a new launch date and time.”
Mission teams decided to stand down to investigate an issue preventing data from confirming a full load of the ignition source for the Falcon 9 first stage Merlin engines, triethylaluminum triethylboron (or TEA-TEB).
Nasa and SpaceX will forgo a launch opportunity on Tuesday, Feb. 28, due to unfavorable weather forecast conditions.
The next available launch attempt is at 12:34 a.m. EST Thursday, March 2, pending resolution of the technical issue preventing Monday’s launch.
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, said “The launch has been postponed, yet our ambitions remain high. Wishing a safe and successful mission to Emirati astronaut @Astro_Alneyadi and the entire Crew-6 team. #ZayedAmbition.”
The SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 mission was scheduled to depart the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:45 am UAE time, carrying two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and the second Emirati to voyage to space.
But just two minutes before lift-off, the launch was called off, or "scrubbed."
"Today's #Crew6 launch has been scrubbed due to an issue with ground systems," NASA posted on Twitter.
SpaceX said shortly after that it had begun unloading fuel from the rocket and the crew would disembark. The launch will be rescheduled for a later date.
Nasa's Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Russia's Andrey Fedyaev and Sultan Al-Neyadi of the United Arab Emirates are to spend six months on the orbiting station.
Neyadi, 41, will be the fourth astronaut from an Arab country and the second from UAE to journey to space; his compatriot Hazzaa al-Mansoori flew an eight-day mission in 2019.
Neyadi described the upcoming mission as a "great honor."
