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Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Bloggytown

SpaceX launch from Cape Canaveral scrubbed, rescheduled for Saturday

Posted By Natalia Jaramillo on Wed, May 27, 2020 at 5:05 PM

click to enlarge

Screenshot via NASA/YouTube

Today's historic Space X launch scheduled for 4:33 p.m. was scrubbed over weather concerns. A new Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for Saturday, May 30, at 3:22 p.m.

The new launch will follow the same procedure as it did on its initial launch day today, but if the unpredictable Florida weather disrupts yet another safe liftoff, SpaceX can try again on Sunday, May 31 at 3 p.m.

Standing down from launch today due to unfavorable weather in the flight path. Our next launch opportunity is Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT, or 19:22 UTC
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 27, 2020

Jim Bridenstine, a NASA administrator, announced also via Twitter that the safety of astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley is the top priority, and that NASA will be livestreaming the new launch again on Saturday, starting at 11 a.m.

The 45th Weather Squadron Launch Weather Officers are those in charge of determining if a rocket is safe enough to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in terms of weather. They use a combination of meteorological and climatological data, weather models, local knowledge, and experience to forecast probability. Their report earlier today gave the launch a 50% chance of being halted by the weather.

As today's launch was canceled due to unsafe weather conditions, the 45th Weather Squadron uses 10 rules to establish the safety of a liftoff that cannot be violated before they call "go" for launch.

These rules pertain to clouds, lightning, smoke and surface electricity, taking into account surface winds, temperature and flight through precipitation, according to a launch forecast infographic.

NASA TV will livestream on Twitter their remarks about the failed launch today after 5:20 p.m.

The Falcon 9 is still set to be the first spacecraft flight from American soil in nine years and the first commercially built rocket by Elon Musk's company SpaceX, funded by NASA.

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Tags: SpaceX, science, NASA, Cape Canaveral, Falcon 9, launch scrubbed, new date, Elon Musk, Image

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