Unfortunately, for those who were waiting to see SpaceX‘s launch of Crew Dragon into space, the event had to be delayed. Due to weather conditions in Florida, which is the home of the Kennedy Space Center, Crew Dragon’s launch is postponed until Saturday at 3:22 p.m. ET. Following this news, Ivanka Trump spoke out regarding her thoughts about the decision to delay this historic event.
On Twitter, Trump, who was at the Kennedy Space Center alongside her father, President Donald Trump, wrote that Crew Dragon’s launch was delayed just 17 minutes before its planned commencement. She then expressed that she was leaving the location since the start would not go on as scheduled. She added that the delay was “disappointing” but that safety comes first. Just in case there were any worries about the launch being outright canceled, Trump ended her message by assuring her followers that the launch would be rescheduled.
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The launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the ISS was scrubbed 17 minutes before the scheduled launch due to inclement weather.
Leaving Kennedy Space Center now … disappointing, but safety first!
Launch will be rescheduled! 🇺🇸
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) May 27, 2020
Like Trump shared on Twitter, Crew Dragon’s launch was indeed delayed almost 17 minutes before it was set to commence. Douglas Hurley and Bob Behnken, the astronauts who will operate the spacecraft, were already strapped into their seats in the Crew Dragon when the delay announcement was made. They were reportedly sitting in the shuttle for two hours before this announcement as they were making their final preparations. According to Reuters, mission managers cited “a number of weather violations” for why they delayed the launch. Throughout Wednesday, there had been reports of on-and-off rain in the Kennedy Space Center area. Reuters also reported that the National Weather Service had even issued a tornado warning for the area. Before the launch, mission managers had been paying close attention weather conditions that could have threatened the success of the launch.
A day before this planned launch, the official SpaceX Twitter account did comment on the forecast for Wednesday. In their message, they shared with their followers that they were in the midst of pre-flight checkouts for Falcon 9, Crew Dragon, and the ground support system. They also added that there was a 60% chance that the weather would be “favorable” for the launch. Of course, ultimately, they did decide that due to various weather conditions that it was best to delay the launch until Saturday.
