Departure at the original scheduled date was thwarted by adverse weather conditions over the Atlantic Ocean, which could cause problems in the event of a failed takeoff and emergency landing.
The new departure time is set at 5:49 local time (11:49 CEST), roughly when the Kennedy Space Center’s 39A launch site is below the International Space Station. Weather is forecast to be significantly more favorable over the Atlantic.
“Our friends (on the ISS) are waiting for us and we do not want to be late. They even recently installed my bedroom. Great hosts, “wrote French astronaut Thomas Pesquet on Thursday, who represents the European Space Agency (ESA) as a crew member – in addition, he is the first Frenchman to fly into space as the ship’s commander.
Crew consists of French, Americans and Japanese
In addition to Pesquet, the Crew Dragon Endeavor crew consists of American astronauts from NASA’s space agency Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide from his country’s JAXA agency.
Both Endeavor and Falcon 9 belong to SpaceX, entrepreneur Elon Musk. The ship looked into orbit for the first time last May with a test crew of two, and the launch vehicle carried four astronauts to the ISS last November.
Astronauts led by Kimbrough will spend six months on the ISS. It will replace four colleagues in orbit, who are due to return to Earth next Wednesday.
– .
