NASA’s mission to bring home two astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months has hit yet another delay.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to carry a fresh crew to the ISS and pave the way for the return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore – two astronauts who have been stuck in orbit since June.
However, the mission, which was set to launch on Wednesday night (March 12) from Kennedy Space Center, was abruptly scrubbed less than 30 minutes before takeoff due to a “hydraulic ground” issue, Daily Mail reported.
The four-person replacement crew included Japan’s Takuya Onishi, Russia’s Kirill Peskov, and NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers.
They were already strapped into their seats when the last-minute issue forced officials to halt the launch.
At 6:55PM, just 50 minutes before liftoff, SpaceX had posted behind-the-scenes photos of the astronauts, enthusiastically declaring: “Crew-10 is go for launch!” However, a technical malfunction with the clamp arm forced the mission to abort.
One by one, the crew members were removed from the rocket and driven away in specialized Teslas to a quarantine facility in Florida, where they will stay until the next launch attempt.
“We will not launch unless we know we can do so safely and reliably,” a SpaceX commentator assured viewers during the livestream.
NASA and SpaceX are now targeting Thursday evening (March 13) for another launch attempt, with Friday (March 14) as a backup option. If successful, Williams and Wilmore could finally return home by Monday.
The delay comes amid controversial claims from Elon Musk, who alleged that the Biden administration intentionally pushed back the rescue mission for political reasons.
During a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Musk claimed that the White House delayed the astronauts’ return because it would have helped Donald Trump in the presidential race against Kamala Harris.
The 53-year-old billionaire, who donated $288 million to Trump’s campaign and has been seen at MAGA rallies, also said that he had offered to bring the stranded astronauts home eight months ago, but the Biden administration rejected the offer.
According to him, at the time, the White House was also involved in legal action against SpaceX, which he suggested played a role in the decision.
NASA has not officially addressed Musk’s claims. However, Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, acknowledged that there may have been political discussions about delaying the return.
Bowersox admitted that there “may have been conversations” in the White House about delaying the return for political reasons, but he was not part of the discussions.
He also stated that SpaceX had been working with NASA since July to develop a backup return plan for the Starliner mission – the Boeing spacecraft that initially took Williams and Wilmore to the ISS.
Williams and Wilmore were originally set for an eight-day mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, launching on June 5, 2023. However, technical malfunctions, including thruster failures and helium leaks, forced NASA to send the spacecraft back to Earth without its crew in September.
Since then, NASA has struggled to find a solution, with budget constraints ruling out other potential rescue options.
Now, the plan is for Williams and Wilmore to return inside SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon capsule, which is already docked at the ISS.
They will be accompanied by NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
NASA typically allows a five-day transition period when switching out ISS crews. However, to conserve food supplies and ensure more undocking opportunities, officials have decided to shorten the handover period to just two days.
Williams and Wilmore are expected to depart about 48 hours after Crew-10 arrives – but only if there are no further delays.
