A rocket launch due to take four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS)聽at 1:45 am EST this morning was cancelled 2 minutes before lift-off for safety reasons.
The SpaceX Crew-6 launch attempt, in collaboration with NASA, was due to carry four astronauts to the ISS in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop a 70-metre-tall Falcon 9 rocket. Cancellation came after the discovery of an issue with one of the rocket鈥檚 sensors, which ordinarily confirms whether or not some of the rocket鈥檚 engines carry sufficient quantities of their ignition source, triethylaluminum triethylboron (or TEA-TEB), according to .
, a systems engineer at SpaceX, said that the cancellation was made 鈥渙ut of an abundance of caution鈥� on a livestream of the planned launch. SpaceX that it is planning for a relaunch attempt on 2 March.
Advertisement
鈥淭his looks fairly routine,鈥� says at the University of Strathclyde, UK. 鈥淩ockets have a lot to go wrong, and with people on board it is always better to keep on the side of caution, so scrubbed launches are common.鈥�
Macdonald points to the on 10 January as an example of how minor issues can create major problems for rocket launches. In that instance, a faulty fuel filter caused the uncrewed rocket to explode while in the air. 鈥淓ven just a faulty sensor is enough to scrub a human launch,鈥� says Macdonald. 鈥淲ith no need to rush, why rush?鈥�
That view was supported by those connected with today鈥檚 attempted launch. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of the NASA and SpaceX teams鈥� focus and dedication to keeping Crew-6 safe,鈥� said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. 鈥淗uman spaceflight is an inherently risky endeavor and, as always, we will fly when we are ready.鈥�
