Bad weather brought the much-anticipated launch of SpaceX’s first astronaut crew tonight, to an abrupt halt. This flight would have marked the return of human spaceflight from U.S. soil for the first time in nearly a decade.
Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were scheduled to lift off aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center to the International Space Station at 4:33 p.m. ET, but cloudy conditions forced launch operators to stand down less than 20 minutes to go in the countdown.
Standing down from launch today due to unfavorable weather in the flight path. Our next launch opportunity is Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT, or 19:22 UTC
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2020
SpaceX and NASA will now attempt the test flight to the International Space Station on Saturday at 3:22 p.m. ET.
Photo: Joe Skipper / Reuters