CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Last-minute technical problems forced SpaceX to cancel Monday’s . Attempt to send four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
The countdown was stopped with two minutes left until liftoff from Kennedy Space Center. With only a split second to stop the explosion, there was no time to deal with the problem involving the engine ignition system.
SpaceX did not immediately say when it would try again. The next attempt could come as early as Tuesday. although bad weather was forecast along the East Coast in emergency recovery areas.
Two NASA astronauts, a Russian astronaut and an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates, are trapped in a capsule atop a Falcon rocket. They had to wait until all the fuel was drained from the rocket – an hour-long process – before ejecting.
“We’ll be sitting here waiting,” Commander Stephen Bowen assured everyone. “We’re all feeling better.”
Bowen and his crew – engaged in a month-long mission including the UAE’s first astronaut. Sultan Al-Neyadi – will replace four space station residents . Who have been there since October.
Officials said the problem involved ground equipment used to load engine ignition fluid. The launch team could not be sure that there was a full load. A SpaceX engineer compared this complex system to a spark plug for a car
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Last-minute technical problems forced SpaceX to cancel Monday’s . Attempt to send four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
The countdown was stopped with two minutes left until liftoff from Kennedy Space Center. With only a split second to stop the explosion, there was no time to deal with the problem involving the engine ignition system.
