SpaceX, NASA delay Crew-4 astronaut landing on Dragon Freedom due to weather
NASA and SpaceX are assessing their options to undock the Crew-4 Dragon and land on Friday (Oct. 14).
A SpaceX crew will have to wait a bit longer to come back home.
NASA had been planning for Crew-4's Dragon capsule, named Freedom, to undock on Thursday (Oct. 13) to deliver four astronauts home from a six-month stay at the International Space Station. But shortly before the capsule would have undocked this morning, NASA once again delayed the procedure, along with Dragon's expected splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean within reach of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, due to weather concerns.
Now NASA is targeting Friday at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT) for the undocking, having now waved off opportunities on Wednesday (Oct. 12) and Thursday (Oct. 13) due to weather, officials said on NASA Television Thursday.
Related: Amazing photos of SpaceX's Crew-4 mission
The four astronauts of Crew-4 will remain on the space station until the next undocking opportunity, spending a few extra hours at the orbiting laboratory alongside seven recent arrivals set to spend a few months inside the facility.
NASA evaluates landing site conditions like wave height, winds and other factors to ensure splashdowns occur in safe conditions, the agency has said.
Crew-4 launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on April 27 and arrived at the ISS the same day. The mission comprises the European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronauts Robert Hines, Kjell Lindgren and Jessica Watkins.
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Crew-4 is the fourth contracted astronaut mission that SpaceX has flown to the orbiting complex for NASA. It's one of two SpaceX astronaut flights currently at the ISS; Crew-5 arrived on Oct. 6 for a five-month stay.
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Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time. Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?", is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace