SPACE reported that a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket “is poised to launch the X-37B space plane for the US Space Force on Monday evening (Dec. 11) after a one-day delay due to weather, and you can likely watch the action live.” Liftoff of the Falcon Heavy “is scheduled to occur from Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, during a 10-minute window that opens at 8:14 p.m. EST (0114 GMT Dec. 12).” The upcoming launch “will be the seventh launch to date for the reusable X-37B space plane its first-ever ride on a Falcon Heavy, which could have consequences for its coming orbital mission.” Five of the six X-37B launches “to date have employed United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets, with one other using a SpaceX Falcon 9.”
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Tag: Weather
SpaceX Delays Next Crew Flight Due To Weather
The AP reports NASA officials announced Monday that a “medical issue has sidelined one of four astronauts assigned to SpaceX’s upcoming flight to the International Space Station and delayed the launch.” The launch has been delayed until Saturday night at the earliest. The unnamed astronaut is affected by a “minor medical issue” unrelated to COVID-19
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Weather Delays NASA Astronauts’ Return from ISS
CNN reports, “Four astronauts are scheduled to return home from the International Space Station (ISS) this week, capping off a nearly six-month mission in space, but rough weather at the crew’s splashdown site is forcing a delay.” NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, along with Italian Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, were all supposed to leave the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Thursday morning.
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