Richland astronaut won’t blast off to space this weekend. NASA considering options

NASA continues to look for a time to launch the rocket with the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance that will carry Richland astronaut Kayla Barron to the International Space Station.

The soonest it could happen is Monday evening.

After the second time the launch was canceled, the National Aeronautical and Space Administration said that the next possible date would be Saturday, Nov. 6.

But now the weather on both Saturday and Sunday looks iffy.

In addition, NASA is considering whether to prioritize Crew-3’s launch with Barron and three other astronaut or bringing Crew-2 home from the International Space Station first.

Originally, Crew-3 was scheduled to leave Earth early Halloween morning and be welcomed aboard the International Space Station by Crew-2, whose scientific mission is ending. The spacecraft that carried the crew to space and will return them to Earth is capable of spending a minimum of 15 more days in orbit.

Now the earliest opportunity for Crew-2 to undock from the space station is Sunday or Monday, according to NASA.

But if NASA does not pursue bringing Crew-2 home first, the SpaceX Crew-3 launch with Barron aboard could happen at the earliest at 9:51 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday. That would be 6:51 p.m. Monday for those watching the launch online from the Tri-Cities on NASA TV at nasa.gov.

However, weather on that day is still being studied, with possible strong winds at the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Station in Florida one concern.

“These are dynamic and complex decisions that change day by day,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. “The weather in November can be especially challenging, so our goal is to move forward on the plan with the highest probability of mission assurance and crew safety.”

The planned launch on Halloween was scrapped due to bad weather. Then a second launch planned for early morning Wednesday Nov. 3 was postponed when one of the Crew-3 astronauts developed a minor medical issue.

NASA did not identify the crew member and did not discuss the medical issue beyond saying it was not COVID-19.

NASA said Thursday that it continues to monitor the medial issue and expects it to clear prior to launch.

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.

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.

If Crew-2 comes home before Crew-3 arrives, there will still be one American and two Russian astronauts on board.

This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 5:00 AM.