After another weather delay, SpaceX is targeting Sunday night to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – The crew of SpaceX Mission 8 is in a familiar holding pattern as ground teams search for suitable weather conditions for the Dragon capsule’s landing following weeks of weather delays.
On Saturday, NASA announced that any attempt to splashdown off the coast of Florida would not happen before Oct. 22, due in part to rough seas and windy conditions along the Sunshine State.
The region has endured weeks of hostile weather conditions that have included everything from hurricanes to nor’easter-like conditions, which have resulted in rough seas and coastal flooding.
The crew made up of NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, was originally expected to return home over the summer, but its mission was extended to assist Boeing’s failed crewed test flight.
Following the successful docking of a half-empty Crew-9 spacecraft, NASA scheduled a return date for Crew-8 in early October, but that was sidetracked by Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 cyclone.
Photo of NASA facility ahead of Hurricane Milton
(NASA)
PIECE OF SUSPECTED SPACE DEBRIS FOUND IN RURAL NORTH CAROLINA
NASA facilities along the Space Coast were closed ahead of the expected flooding and gusty winds, with only essential workers operating operations during the hurricane.
Milton’s center passed nearly directly over the space center before exiting the Florida coastline as a Category 1 hurricane.
NASA reported damage to its campus but said impacts were relatively minor and mainly involved doors, awnings, traffic lights and trailers.
The hurricane did not impact operations at the International Space Station, which currently has 11 souls on board.
SEE RENDERINGS OF SPACE STATION TO BE BUILT AROUND THE MOON
Subsequent planned landing attempts post-hurricane were also rescheduled due to rough seas and gusty winds in splashdown zones.
The additional time aboard the ISS has been well spent, with the crew able to conduct hundreds of scientific experiments.
“Crew-8’s mission will further the understanding of how humans learn and behave in space and how their bodies respond, and it’s all critical to our lunar exploration. We need all of these to come together to understand how people and technologies and systems will behave when we go on longer duration missions,” NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free said after the mission’s launch.
The Dragon spacecraft designated for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission is expected to return home in February and will carry Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov along with Boeing Starliner astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have been stuck aboard the ISS since June 6.
Launch weather officers are watching for storms around Florida’s Space Coast on Tuesday ahead of the GOES-U satellite launch. The NOAA weather satellite is the last in the GOES-R series. In the next decade Lockheed will build the next generation of satellites known as GOES-XO.