Stormy weather on Wednesday grounded a history-making journey to house that will have marked the primary launch of NASA astronauts from US soil in practically a decade.

Non-public rocket firm SpaceX had deliberate to ship Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the Worldwide Area Station from Floridas Kennedy Area Heart, with founder Elon Musk and President Trump wanting on.

However about 17 minutes earlier than blastoff, thunderclouds and the specter of lightning stopped the present.

The flight which might have marked the primary time a non-public firm despatched people to house was rescheduled for Saturday.

No launch for as we speak security for our crew members @Astro_Doug and @AstroBehnken is our high precedence, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted.

Thunderstorms had threatened a delay for a lot of the day, and the environment finally turned so electrically charged that the astronauts risked getting the ship struck by a bolt of lightning.

The house vets had been scheduled to trip aboard SpaceXs glossy, new Dragon capsule on high of a Falcon 9 rocket, taking off from the identical launch pad the place Apollo 11 started its journey to the moon in 1969.

However a twister warning was issued moments after they climbed into their capsule.

We might see some raindrops on the home windows and simply figured that no matter it was, was too shut to the launch pad on the time we wanted it not to be, Hurley mentioned after the flight was scrubbed.

Perceive that everyones in all probability just a little bit bummed out. Thats simply a part of the deal.

Each Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had been readily available on the middle in Cape Canaveral to witness the milestone occasion.

Thanks to @NASA and @SpaceX for his or her exhausting work and management. Look ahead to being again with you on Saturday!, Trump tweeted.

Prior to the scrub, Trump had congratulated Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, calling him a good friend of mine for a very long time.

The journey would have put Musk in league with three international locations the U.S., Russia and China whove all despatched astronauts into orbit.

It will have additionally been the primary human launch from U.S. soil since NASA ended its Area Shuttle Program in 2011.

What as we speak is about is reigniting the dream of house and getting individuals fired up concerning the future, Musk had mentioned in a NASA interview, prior to the scrub.

Crowds of spectators often gathered to catch sight of those occasions had been requested to keep house over the coronavirus outbreak.

However NASA estimated 1.7 million individuals had been watching the launch prep on-line in the course of the afternoon.

With Put up wires

Read the original post:

SpaceX launch postponed due to bad weather - Gruntstuff