NASA and SpaceX’s historic launch called off due to bad weather and rescheduled for Saturday
NASA and SpaceX were expected to make history on May 27 for attempting a launch from American soil after 11 years, however, the launch was scrubbed 20 minutes before the liftoff. This liftoff was considered historic mainly because this launch was expected to end America's dependency on Russia for seats to space and it would also be the first time a private space organization -- Elon Musk's Space X -- would launch its astronauts.
The weather at Kennedy Space Research Center was termed a problem at around 3.35 pm (ET) when NASA said the range for the weather was still “red,” which would mean that they can’t launch under these conditions. A final 'Go, No Go' call was expected to be made at 3.45 pm. At this time, all the systems were ready to 'go' ready for the loading of fuel, however, the weather was still not compatible for the launch. NASA had used balloons to check, however, with just about 20 minutes left until the final call for liftoff, the launch was called off for the day due to inclement weather. The tropical storm Bertha forming off the coast of South Carolina earlier in the day added to weather-related conflicts. In fact, a tornado warning was also announced close to the launch site, however, this cleared later.
According to the New York Times, it was confirmed that the next possible attempt to launch will have to be made on Saturday afternoon at 3:22 pm and Sunday at 3 pm.
The rocket built by SpaceX was supposed to launch two American NASA astronauts and was expected to herald in an era when space missions were not constrained with government budgets. This launch is taking place under the leadership of Musk's SpaceX in consultation with NASA. Astronauts Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley were expected to join Chris Cassidy, the lone American astronaut at the International Space Station.
This call was made to ensure that if there was an emergency, such as a rocket failure, the capsule carrying the astronauts would blast away to safety and parachute into the Atlantic. If this were to happen in the current weather condition, rescuing the astronauts would be complicated considering the high waves in the Atlantic. The mission managers had to make a call between pumping kerosene rocket fuel and liquid oxygen into the tanks of Falcon 9 while the sky was still gray with possible storms or try again on Saturday. They chose to go with the latter.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had arrived from Washington on Airforce One to watch the launch in the afternoon just hours before the launch was scrubbed.