Damaged SpaceX Rocket Delays NASA's Next Astronaut Mission
Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station has been delayed by nearly a month because the Falcon 9 booster was damaged during transport. The Crew-5 mission — the fifth of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program — will now launch no earlier than September 29. The launch was supposed to start in early September, meaning the mission has been delayed by nearly a month. The revised schedule will allow SpaceX to “complete hardware processing,” according to a NASA statement. SpaceX is preparing a Falcon 9 booster for its maiden voyage, but obstacles along the way have resulted in some extra work and scheduling changes, as NASA explains: SpaceX removed and replaced the rocket interstage and some onboard instrumentation after hardware was damaged during transportation from SpaceX’s production plant in Hawthorne, California, to the company’s McGregor test facility in Texas for stage testing. The SpaceX team completed – and the NASA team...
