Inside: SpaceX launch nixed due to weather.
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. >>
The launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASA astronauts on a history-making flight into orbit was called off with less than 17 minutes to go in the countdown Wednesday because of thunderclouds and the risk of lightning.
Liftoff was rescheduled for Saturday afternoon.
The spacecraft — designed, built and owned by SpaceX — was set to blast off in the afternoon for the International Space Station, opening a new era in commercial spaceflight. It would have also marked the first time in nearly a decade that the U.S. launched astronauts into orbit from American soil.
But thunderstorms for much of the day threatened to force a postponement, and the word finally came down that the atmosphere was so electrically charged that the spacecraft was in danger of getting hit by lightning.
NASA Administrator Jim
Bridenstine said the agency and SpaceX worked together to “make the right decision” and put safety first at a time when some were wondering whether the public attention surrounding the flight would create undue pressure to launch.
Veteran space shuttle astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were supposed to ride into orbit aboard SpaceX’s sleek, white-andblack, bullet-shaped Dragon capsule on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, taking off from the same launch pad used during the Apollo moon missions a half-century ago.
Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had arrived to watch. Trump, who before the postponement marveled at the “magnificent” rocket on the pad, later tweeted that he will return for the next try.
“Thank you to @NASA and @SpaceX for their hard work and leadership. Look forward to being back with you on Saturday!” he said.
The flight — the long-held dream of SpaceX founder Elon Musk — would have marked the first time a private company sent humans into orbit.
It would have also ended a launch drought for NASA. Ever since the space shuttle was retired in 2011, NASA has relied on Russian spaceships launched from Kazakhstan to take U.S. astronauts to and from the space station.
“Understand that everybody’s probably a little bit bummed out. That’s just part of the deal . ... We’ll do it again, I think, on Saturday,” Hurley, the spacecraft commander, said after the flight was scrubbed.
A solemn-sounding Musk said he felt his responsibilities most heavily when he saw the astronauts’ wives and young sons just before the launch attempt. He said he told them: “We’ve done everything we can to make sure your dads come back OK.”