The SpaceX launch didn’t happen on Wednesday, thanks to adverse weather conditions, disappointing spectators everywhere. However, there were already two other launch times planned, with the first one coming up on Saturday.
The launch was set to transport the Crew Dragon craft to the International Space Station and was the first crewed mission to space since the 2011 launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis. While there were concerns about the weather leading up to the launch, it proved to be too big a risk. According to WTSP, the two alternate launch dates are 3:22 p.m. on Saturday, May 30. Should that launch end up getting delayed, the next one will come at 3 p.m. the following day.
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Crew Dragon was to launch at 4:33 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. On Tuesday, SpaceX tweeted about the possibility that weather could play an adverse role. Along with the usual pre-flight checkouts for Falcon 9, Crew Dragon, and the ground support system in advance of the launch, the tweet also noted that the forecast gave the launch a 60 percent chance against it happening.
Despite the temporary setback, the now upcoming SpaceX launch is still being viewed as a positive first step for NASA’s new era, as well as open up new possibilities when it comes to space travel. In an interview with PopCulture, former astronaut Mike Massimino said that he was “thrilled” about the launch. “It just feels right. I don’t know how to explain it — there’s something about launching from the United States that launching from someplace else doesn’t have the same significance for American astronauts.”
Massimo went on to reflect on his own time in space and how it changed his perspective on the world. “When I looked at our planet from above, the impressions I had were lasting,” he continued. “No matter where we’re from, we share the same home. I think that global perspective, maybe some people can get it while walking around on earth, but it really is something to be seen from space.”
Currently, NASA is working to end its reliance on Russian spacecraft to launch American astronauts to the ISS. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said that the SpaceX launch was the beginning of “a new generation, a new era in human spaceflight” to help meet that lofty goal.
