SpaceX and NASA scrubbed a rocket launch shortly before liftoff early Monday, postponing a mission to send US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station.
(Bloomberg) — SpaceX and NASA scrubbed a rocket launch shortly before liftoff early Monday, postponing a mission to send US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the International Space Station.
NASA and SpaceX said they postponed the scheduled 1:45 a.m. launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida because of a ground system issue.
“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),” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement.
The four members of the Crew-6 mission, including two astronauts from the US, one astronaut from the United Arab Emirates and one cosmonaut from Russia, safely exited the spacecraft and there was no damage to the vehicles, according to NASA and SpaceX statements.
The next launch opportunity will be March 2, NASA said.
“Human spaceflight is an inherently risky endeavor and, as always, we will fly when we are ready,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
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While Moscow’s relations with Washington are at their worst point since the Cold War because of the Russian war in Ukraine, the two sides continue to cooperate on the ISS.
On Feb. 24, the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, an uncrewed Russian spacecraft launched to the ISS to replace a damaged Soyuz craft docked at the station. That leak forced a delay in the scheduled return to Earth of a US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts aboard the ISS.
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