{"id":12439,"date":"2020-05-28T01:50:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T17:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/stormy-weather-delays-crew-dragon-launch-to-saturday\/"},"modified":"2020-05-28T01:50:32","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T17:50:32","slug":"stormy-weather-delays-crew-dragon-launch-to-saturday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/stormy-weather-delays-crew-dragon-launch-to-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormy weather delays Crew Dragon launch to Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION<\/p>\n

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center during a launch attempt Wednesday, May 27. Credit: NASA TV\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stormy weather across Florida\u2019s Space Coast forced SpaceX to call off the long-awaited launch of two astronauts aboard the company\u2019s Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first piloted flight to orbit from U.S. soil in nearly nine years.<\/p>\n

The company plans to make another attempt Saturday, at 3:22:45 p.m. EDT, the next opportunity for a launch into the plane of the International Space Station\u2019s orbit with the proper conditions for a rendezvous and docking.<\/p>\n

Another opportunity is available at 3:00:07 p.m. Sunday. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions both days.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s scrub was a frustrating disappointment for astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken, who have been training for the past four years to to take off on one of the most anticipated flights in space history.<\/p>\n

But the weather appeared no-go throughout the morning, with occasionally heavy rain and thick cloud cover blanketing Florida\u2019s Space Coast. As the day wore on, conditions improved somewhat but the sky remained cloudy with rain and lightning in the area.<\/p>\n

Hoping for the best, Hurley and Behnken donned their pressure suits and headed for the launch pad around 1:20 p.m.<\/p>\n

Before departing NASA\u2019s Operations & Checkout Building in white Tesla SUVs, they took a moment to share virtual hugs with their wives, both veteran astronauts, and their sons, 10-year-old Jack Hurley and six-year-old Theodore Behnken, as Vice President Mike Pence and his wife looked on.<\/p>\n

After strapping into the Crew Dragon capsule, Hurley and Behnken checked in with flight controllers, tested their pressure suits and monitored the countdown while engineers readied their Falcon 9 for fueling.<\/p>\n

Forecasters were hopeful conditions were improve enough to permit a launch and fueling began on time at the T-minus 35-minute mark. But at 4:16 p.m., with the countdown less than 17 minutes from launch, SpaceX mission managers called a scrub.<\/p>\n

If they had 10 more minutes, officials said, the weather would have been \u201cgo\u201d for launch. But to rendezvous with the International Space Station, the Falcon 9 had to take off on time. And it was not to be.<\/p>\n