Stormy weather puts damper on SpaceX's first astronaut launch

Stormy wear is threatening to delay X's first astronaut launch. A X rocket is scheduled to blast off Wednesday afteron from Kennedy Center, carrying a Dragon capsule with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to International Station. It will be first time astronauts launch from Florida in nine years and a first for a private company.

manr of NASA's commercial crew program, Kathy Lueders, said everything was progressing well at least on ground.

"w only thing we need to do is figure out how to control wear", she said Monday evening as rain continued to drench area. "We're continuing to be vigilant and careful and make sure we do this right. Forecasters put odds of acceptable launch wear at 40%. But that doesn't include conditions all way up U.S. and Canian coasts and across sea to Ireland  a complicated mix of measurements unique to Dragon crew capsule."

Dragon's emergency escape system can kick in, if necessary, all way to orbit. If that happens, capsule will need relatively calm wind and seas in which to splash down.

X will have at least two recovery ships deployed off Florida, and NASA will have two military cargo planes rey to take off. ditional planes will be stationed in New York and England to assist with a potential water rescue, according to Lueders.

Hans Koenigsmann, a vice president for X, said launch control team will incorporate global wear patterns and models to determine wher it's safe to launch.

"If wear gods are working with us," he said, liftoff will occur at 4:33 p.m. X has a split-second launch window.

Backup launch date

good news is that tropical wear heed toward Cape Canaveral should be gone in a couple days, with conditions also improving up Eastern Seaboard later in week. If X doesn't launch Wednesday, its next attempt would be Saturday.

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(Im: Twitter / @X)