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WATCH: SpaceX and NASA call off Crew-6 mission to ISS just 2.5 minutes before takeoff
SpaceX and NASA had to cancel the human flight to the ISS at the last minute due to a problem with the rocket's ground system. This was the most anticipated space mission of 2023.
Today’s NASA and SpaceX crewed launch was supposed to the astronauts of the Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station was one of the most anticipated launch events scheduled for 2023. However, at the very last minute, the mission had to be postponed indefinitely.SpaceX and NASA have cancelled a human flight to the International Space Station due to a problem with the rocket's ground system.What went wrong?The launch was aborted with about two minutes remaining on the countdown clock due to an issue with the TEA-TEB ignition fluid, which is used to start the SpaceX Falcon 9's rocket engines at liftoff.The choice to cancel the flight was taken "out of an excess of caution," according to Kate Tice, a SpaceX systems engineer, in a webcast commentary on Monday.The four astronauts, who were strapped into their Crew Dragon capsule aboard the rocket in the hours leading up to launch, exited after the 230-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket was drained of its propellant. They will remain at Kennedy Space Center until the next try at flight.NASA stated that the SpaceX Crew-6 mission would now be launched at 12:34 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 2, "pending settlement of the technological problem that prevented Monday's launch."Second chancesBecause of an unfavourable weather prediction, the agency said it would forego a launch chance on Tuesday."I'm proud of NASA and SpaceX teams' concentration and commitment to keeping Crew-6 secure," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wrote on his blog."Human spaceflight is an intrinsically dangerous undertaking, and we will fly when we are ready."The SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher and Crew Dragon spacecraft were scheduled to launch at 1:45 AM ET Monday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, with less than three minutes remaining, the clock was halted by experts in charge of the ground systems.This mission was supposed to be SpaceX's seventh human journey on NASA's behalf since 2020.What were the objectives of the Crew-6 mission?NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen, a veteran of three space shuttle missions, and first-time flier Warren Hoburg were supposed to be launched on the SpaceX spacecraft, along with Sultan Alneyadi, the UAE's second astronaut ever to journey to space, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.When Bowen, Hoburg, Fedyaev, and Alneyadi reached the ISS, they were supposed to take over duties from the SpaceX Crew-5 astronauts who arrived in October 2022. Astronauts on the Crew-6 mission were supposed to spend up to six months in the orbiting laboratory, conducting scientific studies and managing the two-decade-old station.Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
First Published:Feb 27, 2023, 16:01:33 IST
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