SpaceX launch pushed to Saturday: What to know
Postponement means you may be able to watch history in person
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SpaceX’s first launch of a crewed spacecraft was called off just minutes before launch due to bad weather Wednesday.
The launch’s next window is set for 3:22 p.m. Eastern time Saturday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch dates are determined in part by the International Space Station's orbit.
NASA officials had encouraged the public to watch the launch from home due to social distancing guidelines for the coronavirus pandemic. However, it may be possible to watch Saturday’s launch in person. The Kennedy Space Center visitor complex is reopening Thursday. The center will limit daily attendance, so officials are advising anyone planning a visit to purchase admission tickets in advance.
A SpaceX Falcon 9, with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken in the Dragon crew capsule, on Pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Wednesday, May 27, 2020. (NASA via AP)
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The mission will be the final test for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, which NASA plans to use as part of its Commercial Crew Program. It will also mark the first time a spacecraft built by a business is used to carry people into orbit and the first crewed launch from U.S. soil since 2011.
The spacecraft will carry astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station where they will remain for a yet-undetermined period of time. The test spacecraft can remain in orbit for as long as 104 days, according to NASA.
It will take about 19 hours to reach the space station.
Other than the weather, everything had appeared to be working as intended during Wednesday’s attempt. The astronauts had boarded the spacecraft and the rocket was in the process of being fueled by the time the launch was called off.
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President Trump was on site to watch Wednesday’s aborted launch. He tweeted that he would be back on Saturday, too.
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NASA weather officials had estimated Wednesday’s launch may have been able to go if they’d had another 10 minutes, but the launch was scheduled with an “instantaneous launch time” due to the complex and specific timing of loading the liquid oxygen fuel.
Saturday’s launch is also scheduled with an instantaneous window.
There’s a chance it could be delayed again. As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service was predicting a 60 percent chance of precipitation in Cape Canaveral Saturday, with showers and thunderstorms most likely after 1 p.m.
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