2nd delay for Tri-Cities astronaut’s blastoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

NASA astronaut Kayla Barron of the Tri-Cities will not be heading into space early Wednesday morning, after all.

The launch of Falcon 9 rocket with the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has been postponed for a second time.

NASA announced Monday that the postponement was due to a “minor medical issue” involving one of the SpaceX Crew-3 members.

“The issue is not a medical emergency and not related to COVID-19,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration posted online.

The SpaceX Crew-3 was originally scheduled to leave Earth early on Halloween morning.

The flight initially was rescheduled for early morning Wednesday due to a storm system that was expected to create windy conditions and waves in the Atlantic Ocean along the Crew Dragon flight path.

“Teams will continue to monitor crew health as they evaluate potential launch opportunities at the end of the week,” NASA said. Barron and the rest of her crew remain in quarantine.

The earliest possible opportunity for launch is 11:36 p.m. EDT Saturday, Nov. 6. That would be 8:36 p.m. PDT Saturday for those watching the launch online from the Tri-Cities on NASA TV at nasa.gov.

Barron, a graduate of Richland High and the daughter of Lauri and Scott Sax of Richland, Wash., has been picked to spend six months aboard the International Space Station as a mission specialist, living and doing research as part of what is planned to be a seven-member crew.

She is part of the SpaceX Crew-3 that includes NASA mission commander Raja Chari and NASA pilot Tom Marshburn. Also launching with them will be mission specialist Matthias Maurer of Germany with the European Space Agency.

The crew will stay onboard the space station for a six-month science mission scheduled to be completed in late April 2022.

This is the third crew rotation mission with astronauts on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and the fourth flight with astronauts, including the Demo-2 test flight, as part of the NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA is continuing to evaluate dates for the return to Earth of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2, which the crew that includes Barron will relieve.

Options for both direct and indirect handovers for the upcoming crew rotation are being reviewed, NASA said.

This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 8:09 PM.