SpaceX Crew-6 Mission Launch: NASA Calls Off Attempt To Send Four Astronauts to International Space Station Due to Technical Trouble

Cape Canaveral, February 27: Last-minute technical trouble forced SpaceX to call off Monday's attempt to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. The countdown was halted with just two minutes remaining until liftoff from Kennedy Space Centre.

With just a split second to blast off, there was no time to deal with the problem, which involved the engine ignition system. SpaceX delayed the launch until at least Thursday. NASA SpaceX Crew-6 Mission Launch Scrubbed Due To Issue With Ground Systems, New Time and Date for Lift-Off To Be Announced (Watch Video).

Strapped into the capsule atop the Falcon rocket were two NASA astronauts, one Russian cosmonaut and one astronaut from the United Arab Emirates. They had to wait until all the fuel was drained from the rocket — an hourlong process — before getting out. NASA To Launch Mars Science Mission on Jeff Bezos-Run Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket.

“We'll be sitting here waiting,” commander Stephen Bowen assured everyone. “We're all feeling good.”

Bowen and his crew — including the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates assigned to a months long mission, Sultan al-Neyadi — will replace four space station residents who have been up there since October.

Officials said the problem involved ground equipment used for loading the engine ignition fluid. The launch team could not be sure there was a full load. A SpaceX engineer likened this critical system to spark plugs for a car.

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