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SpaceX flight to ISS postponed by one day due to weather: NASA 

April 21, 2021 10:22 PM


A crewed SpaceX mission to the International Space Station has been postponed by a day due to concerns over the weather, NASA said Wednesday.

The flight had been scheduled for Thursday but because of an unfavorable weather forecast along the flight path it will now be set for 5:49 am (0949 GMT) Friday, the US space agency said.

A SpaceX rocket is to carry four astronauts to the ISS in the second routine mission since the United States resumed crewed space flight, and the first with a European.

The mission, called Crew-2, involves US astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, along with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Akihiko Hoshide, and the European Space Agency (ESA)'s Thomas Pesquet, who is French.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has established itself as NASA's favored transportation provider as the agency waits on Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule to carry out key tests.

SpaceX's first crewed test flight in May 2020 ended nine years of American reliance on Russian rockets for rides to the ISS following the demise of the Space Shuttle program.

Friday's flight will reuse the booster rocket used in the Crew-1 mission -- a first -- and the Crew Dragon capsule will be the same as that used in the test mission.

The four astronauts will overlap for a few days with the crew of Crew-1 before that team returns from its six-month mission. 

With three Russians on board, the station is set to become unusually crowded, accommodating 11 people.

Pesquet and Hoshide say they will liven up the cuisine with national dishes from their home countries.

Pesquet for his part divulged one of the meals was crepe suzette -- a quintessential French dessert.

 

 



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