WASHINGTON – NASA is delaying the launch of the first operational SpaceX commercial crew mission in early November to provide more time to review a problem during a recent Falcon 9 launch attempt.
NASA Oct Oct. 10 was announced. The Crew-1 mission, which was scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center on Falcon 9 on the early morning of October 31, will no longer begin in mid-November.
The delay would give SpaceX “more time to complete hardware testing and data reviews as the company will evaluate the negligible behavior of Falcon 9 first-stage engine gas generators observed during a recent non-NASA mission launch effort,” the agency said. NASA did not identify the specific launch effort in question, but SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk later launched the Falcon 9, a GPS3 satellite, just two seconds before the liftoff, later described as an “unexpected pressure increase.” Turbomachinery gas generator. “
“With SpaceX’s high mission, it really gives us an incredible insight into this business system and helps us make informed decisions about the state of our mission,” said Kathy Luders, NASA’s associate administrator at the agency. Statement. He said the investigation into the problem is ongoing “and we should be very smart in the coming weeks.”
Both the Crew-1 and GPS3 missions are using the new Falcon 9 first phases that have not been launched before. After the GPS3 scrub, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 Oct. 6 successfully launched, with 60 Starlink satellites building its third flight using a booster. SpaceX has yet to schedule a GPS 3 launch.
NASA said the issue with the Crew-1 mission would not delay the launch of the second Falcon 9 of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freelich Earth Observation Satellite scheduled for Nov. 10 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. That mission will also use the first phase of the new Falcon 9. The second Falcon 9, possibly with the first phase flown before, will launch a cargo dragon spacecraft to NASA in late November or early December.
The Crew-1 mission will take NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Waker and JXA astronaut Sochi Noguchi to the International Space Station for a six-month stay. To provide more time to wrap up the certification work of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA had earlier issued Oct. 23 to Oct. 31 Oct. Delayed the launch until.
“For this crucial launch, we are happy to support NASA and any schedule that meets their needs,” Hans Konigsman, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, said in a Sept. 29 briefing on NASA’s Crew-1 mission. Agency Oct Oct. Announced a delay of 31. “We’ll fly when we’re ready to fly.”
The delay will not affect other crew missions for the ISS. The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Roscosmos Cosmon carrying Rzi Ryazikov and Sergei Kud-Sverkov is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan three hours later at Oct. 45 in the morning.
The current ISS crew of NASA’s Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos’ Anatoly Ivanishin and Evan Wagner will depart from the station a week later, returning to Earth on the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft.
