Polaris Dawn launch attempt delayed to early Wednesday morning, SpaceX reports
The first Polaris Dawn launch attempt has been postponed to early Wednesday morning. Why? Teams are taking a closer look at a groundside helium leak, SpaceX reported.
"We’re officially scrubbed for today, but the @SpaceX team is doing awesome work to ensure all systems are 100% ready for launch!" Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX lead space operations engineer and Polaris Dawn mission specialist, said in a Monday night tweet.
Now, SpaceX is targeting 3:38 a.m. EDT Wednesday to launch Polaris Dawn's Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. If delays arise, a pair of backup opportunities will be available a few hours later, at 5:23 a.m. and 7:09 a.m.
On Sunday, crews performed a static fire test of the Falcon 9 and crew members completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities. However, the Polaris Dawn launch attempt was called off Monday night more than seven hours ahead of liftoff.
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"Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical. Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit," SpaceX officials said in an 8:17 p.m. Monday tweet.
The four Polaris Dawn crew members will launch into orbit for their five-day mission — featuring a daring spacewalk outside their SpaceX Dragon capsule. No Central Florida sonic booms are expected. After soaring skyward along a northeasterly trajectory, the rocket's first-stage booster will target landing aboard the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron predicts 90% "go for launch" weather for Polaris Dawn on Wednesday.
Meanwhile — though SpaceX has yet to announce this mission — a Coast Guard-Space Launch Delta 45 rocket launch advisory showed the Starlink 8-6 mission would lift off early Wednesday morning from adjacent Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. That launch target is now in doubt in light of the Polaris Dawn rescheduling.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Polaris Dawn launch attempt pushed back to Wednesday, SpaceX reports
