MILAN, 22 FEB – NASA and SpaceX have decided to postpone the launch of the Crew-6 mission from Sunday to Monday, which will bring four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS): the Americans Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg of NASA, the Russian Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos and Sultan al-Neyadi of the United Arab Emirates. The launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, initially scheduled for Sunday, February 26 at 8:07 am Italian time, was postponed to 7:45 am on Monday due to some delays in the preparation of the Crew Dragon shuttle (new thermal analyzes of the skin panels are needed outside) and the Falcon 9 rocket (some composite-shrouded pressure vessels will be evaluated) from SpaceX. The Crew-6 crew, which arrived in Florida on Tuesday for final preparations, will remain in orbit for a six-month mission. Upon arrival on the ISS, he will also find the four astronauts of the previous Crew-5 mission (in orbit since October), who will return to Earth about five days later. If the launch of Crew-6 were to be delayed further, for example due to the weather, it could be re-attempted on February 28, March 2 and March 4. (HANDLE).
(HANDLE)
