Approaching storm delays Thursday space launch from Florida

The SpaceX Falcon 9, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of the rocket, sits on Launch Pad 39-A, Monday, May 25, 2020, at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Two astronauts will fly on the SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station scheduled for launch on May 27. (Image via AP Photo/David J. Phillip.

The approaching storm has caused NASA and Space X to delay the launch of one of its upcoming astronaut missions.

The Crew-9 mission was expected to launch Thursday afternoon from Cape Canaveral, ahead of the predicted landfall of what will be Hurricane Helene along Florida’s Gulf Coast.

That launch has now been pushed to no earlier than 1:17 p.m. Saturday, NASA and Space X said Tuesday in a news release.

Although Helene was expected to hit along Florida’s Gulf Coast, they said the storm system is predicted to be large enough that high winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Florida’s east coast.

The spacecraft rolled out to the launch pad Tuesday for hardware checks and rehearsals. Crews were expected to move the rocket and capsule back into its hangar to protect it ahead of any storm effects from Helene.

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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at sophia.bailly@freshtakeflorida.com. You can donate to support our students here.