Bad weather foils rocket launch

AFTER grey clouds signalled the postponement of the launch of a rocket built by SpaceX, the company started by billionaire Elon Musk, anticipation is running high for the rescheduled lift-off tomorrow.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was due to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre, taking Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on a 19-hour ride aboard the company’s newly designed Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.

The Demo-2 mission will be the final major step before Nasa’s Commercial Crew Programme certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station, Nasa said.

The certification and regular operation of Crew Dragon will enable Nasa to continue research and technology investigations onboard the station, which benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future exploration of the moon and Mars starting with the agency’s Artemis programme, which will land the first woman and the next man on the lunar surface in 2024.

Expected take-off on Wednesday, SpaceX tweeted that it was standing down from the launch due to unfavourable weather in the flight path.

“Our next launch opportunity is Saturday, May 30 at 3.22 pm EDT, or 19.22 UTC,” the company said.

Hurley, 53, and Behnken, 49, are expected to remain at the space station for several weeks, assisting a short-handed crew aboard the orbital laboratory.

“Upon conclusion of the mission, Crew Dragon will autonomously undock with the two astronauts on board, depart the space station and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Upon splashdown just off Florida’s Atlantic Coast, the crew will be picked up at sea by SpaceX’s Go Navigator recovery vessel and return to Cape Canaveral,” Nasa said.