Two minutes before liftoff, NASA and SpaceX scrub launch of 4 crewmembers due to ground systems issue

Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft vents fuel prior to a scrubbed launch from pad 39A for the Crew-6 mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on February 27, 2023.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft vents fuel prior to a scrubbed launch from pad 39A for the Crew-6 mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on February 27, 2023.

A NASA and SpaceX rocket set to take four crewmembers to space was scrubbed right before its scheduled launch Monday morning.

The next attempt of the launch of Crew-6 is set for early Thursday morning.

The last-minute move marked the second rescheduled launch of Crew-6, originally scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday. Last week NASA and SpaceX decided to push the liftoff back by 24 hours to make time for additional checks and balances.

Then early Monday morning, NASA reported, mission teams stood down to investigate an issue with ground systems.

“I’m proud of the NASA and SpaceX teams’ focus and dedication to keeping Crew-6 safe,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Human spaceflight is an inherently risky endeavor and, as always, we will fly when we are ready.”

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NASA eyes new launch date, time

NASA said it will forgo a launch opportunity on Tuesday due to unfavorable weather forecast conditions. The next available launch attempt is at 12:34 a.m. EST Thursday pending resolution of the technical issue preventing Monday’s launch.

Emirati observers watch at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai on February 27, 2023 as a screen shows the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft venting fuel prior to a scrubbed launch from pad 39A for the Crew-6 mission at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch to the International Space Station was postponed on February 27, with officials citing problems with ground systems.

What to know about Crew-6 mission

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, the United Arab Emirates' Sultan Alneyadi, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev were set to launch in a Crew Dragon capsule for a six-month mission to the International Space Station.

The flight is the sixth crew rotation mission with Elon Musk's space company to the station, and the seventh flight of SpaceX's Dragon Endeavor with people as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Dragon Endeavour will be launched by its Falcon 9 rocket, a two-stage rocket used to transport satellites and the spacecraft into orbit.

Members of the SpaceX Dragon Crew-6 mission; Pilot Warren "Woody" Hoburg (front L), Commander Stephen Bowen (front R), Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos (back L), and Mission Specialist Sultan Alneyadi from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre of the United Arab Emirates (back R) gesture during the crew walkout ahead of their expected lift off at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on February 26, 2023.

What are they doing up there?

Hopefully, getting a step closer to Mars.

According to NASA, crew members plan to gather new information in experiments that will bring it closer to its goal of landing on Mars, testing microgravity’s effect on flames and immunity, as well as collecting microorganisms from outside the Space Station.

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They are among some of the more than 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations that NASA reported will take place during their mission.

Crew-6 will spend up to six months at the space station before returning to Earth.

Contributing: Florida Today staff

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA, SpaceX scrub launch due to ground systems issue; new date eyed