CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. —
A medical challenge has sidelined one in every of 4 astronauts assigned to SpaceX’s upcoming flight to the Worldwide House Station and delayed the launch, officers stated Monday.
NASA stated the launch is now off till Saturday evening on the earliest. Liftoff had been scheduled for this previous Sunday, however unhealthy climate offshore bumped it to Wednesday. It is the primary time in many years {that a} U.S. flight has been delayed by a crew member’s well being.
Officers wouldn’t say which astronaut is affected. They described it as a “minor medical challenge” and stated it’s unrelated to COVID-19. The one German and three U.S. astronauts — who vary in age from 34 to 61 — have been quarantined for 2 weeks as common earlier than a spaceflight.
As soon as on their manner, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron and the European House Company’s Matthias Maurer will transfer into the area station for six months, changing 4 astronauts who’ve been dwelling up there since April. NASA prefers launching the brand new crew earlier than bringing again the outdated one to allow them to have a face-to-face handover, however is contemplating “all choices” in mild of the most recent delay.
In 1990, a shuttle launch was delayed when the flight’s commander got here down with a chilly. And in 1970, an astronaut was yanked from Apollo 13 shortly earlier than launch after being uncovered to German measles. He by no means got here down with measles, and later joined the herculean effort in Houston to save lots of his colleagues from their aborted moon mission.
Extra not too long ago, two Russian cosmonauts have been changed a pair months earlier than their 2020 launch to the area station, after one in every of them suffered an eye fixed damage.
Earlier Monday afternoon, Maurer tweeted a photograph of himself on the seashore at Kennedy House Heart, holding a big rubbish bag.
“I have been enjoyable throughout my quarantine by accumulating garbage on the seashore,” he wrote. “Sadly, this isn’t the one bag I crammed. We actually want to consider our environmental impression on Earth and in area. Clear oceans, clear area! It is as much as all of us.”
