SpaceX, NASA Crew-3 Mission Launch Delayed Again Until Nov. 6—Astronaut Medical Issue?

SpaceX and NASA's Crew-3 mission launch to the International Space Station (ISS) is delayed again until Nov. 6, Saturday, due to a "minor medical issue" that one of the astronauts is experiencing, confirms the United States space agency.

SpaceX, NASA Crew-3 Mission Launch

Initially, SpaceX's Crew-3 mission for National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA to the ISS was scheduled to launch on Oct. 30., which will be flying crew members composed of NASA and European Space Agency or ESA astronauts.

As such, the 5th crewed flight of SpaceX, the Crew-3, was dubbed as the Halloween launch.

However, as per the report by USA Today, the Halloween launch of the Elon Musk-led space exploration firm was moved to Nov. 3, Wednesday, after the weather failed to cooperate with the lift-off of the Crew-3 Mission.

To be precise, the Commercial Crew of NASA said that the delay is due to "a large storm system elevating winds and waves in the Atlantic Ocean. It turns out that it is heading to the flight path of the Crew Dragon. So, the space agency decided to push it to Nov. 3.

SpaceX, NASA Crew-3 Mission Delayed Again

However, the launch of SpaceX's Crew-3 mission is facing another hiccup, delaying its lift-off to much later date.

This time around, according to the report by Space.com, the crew mission is scheduled to launch on Nov. 6, Saturday, at the Kennedy Space Center of NASA in Florida. That is if the launch does not stumble upon another hiccup.

That said, the crew members of the mission, which includes NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Thomas Marshburn, and Raja Chari, as well as ESA's Matthias Maurer, have to wait for a few more days before reaching the ISS via the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, atop the Falcon 9 rocket.

Crew-3 Mission Delay: Medical Issue?

Officials from NASA announced on Nov. 1 that the delay is due to a "minor medical issue." The space agency went on to clarify that the hiccup is "not a medical emergency, noting that it is "not related to COVID-19" as well.

Space.com said in the same report that NASA has yet to provide any details regarding the medical issue. On top of that, the space agency also did not identify which astronaut is experiencing the said issue.

However, NASA disclosed that the rest of the Crew-3 astronauts are currently under quarantine at the Kennedy Space Center. The officials of the space agency clarified that it is the normal pre-launch procedure.

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Written by Teejay Boris