SpaceX Crew-3 launch to the ISS delayed again

Astronauts from earlier SpaceX mission will now return to Earth before their replacements take off

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  A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard on the launch pad during a static fire test before the Crew-3 mission, at Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. EPA

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  Sunset on the launch pad as preparations continue for the Crew-3 mission. EPA

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  Nasa astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer made up the crew. EPA

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  They will spend six months researching material sciences, health and botany. EPA

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  The team is expected to dock with the space station after a flight lasting several hours. EPA

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  Raja Chari (2nd R) speaks to the media in Florida, with Tom Marshburn (2nd L), Kayla Barron (R) and Matthias Maurer. AFP

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  The astronauts looked relaxed as they arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre. AFP

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  The purpose of the mission is to help inform future deep space exploration. AP

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  The Crew-3 astronauts begin their journey to the launch pad. AFP

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  Matthias Maurer waves as he heads for the launch pad in a Tesla. AP

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  The Crew-3 astronauts head to the launch pad in a convoy of Tesla cars. EPA / Joel Kowsky / NASA / HANDOUT

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  The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the astronauts lifts off. Reuters

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  Flames from the rocket lit up the night sky over Florida during take off. Reuters

Nasa has again delayed the launch of the SpaceX rocket set to take a crew of four to the International Space Station.

Bad weather over the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida means the SpaceX Crew-3 mission will begin no sooner than to 9.03pm on Wednesday, or 5.03am on Thursday, UAE time.

The latest delay will allow the astronauts of the previous SpaceX mission, Crew-2, to return to Earth before their replacements take off for the orbital lab.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying the Crew-2 astronauts is due to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean at 12.14am GMT on November 8.

Nasa had already delayed the Crew-3 launch, saying one of the astronauts was suffering from a “minor medical issue”.

The US space agency said the condition was not an emergency and was not related to Covid-19.

Who are the astronauts on the Crew-3 mission?

The Crew-3 mission comprises Americans Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron, and German Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency.

The four astronauts will blast off aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft named Endurance from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Nasa will live-stream the launch on its YouTube channel.

The astronauts are expected to dock with the space station on Monday, and will spend six months conducting research into material science, botany and health.

The mission is intended to help inform future deep space exploration and benefit life on Earth.

“Last night, we got to go see Endurance in the hangar as they got ready to roll it out to the pad, and actually put our hands on the Dragon, which is a pretty special experience,” Lt Col Chari, the US Air Force colonel who is commanding the mission, said on Wednesday.

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  Jared "Rook" Isaacman, Polaris Dawn Mission Commander. Photo: Polaris Program / John Kraus

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  The all-amateur crew of SpaceX Inspiration4 embark on an historic mission. Reuters

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  They have lift off in Cape Canaveral, Florida. AP Photo

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  Inspiration4 crew members Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux are all smiles before the flight. Reuters

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  The moment the rocket blasts off from Kennedy Space Centre's Launch Pad 39-A in Cape Canaveral. AP Photo

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  The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket prepares to launch from Nasa's Kennedy Space Centre, Florida. AFP

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  The Inspiration4 mission, the first to send an all-civilian crew to orbit, will venture deeper into space than the International Space Station. AFP

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  The SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off with four private citizens onboard. AP Photo

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  The crew will spend three days orbiting the Earth before splashing back down off the coast of Florida. Reuters

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  'The Inspiration4 launch reminds us of what can be accomplished when we partner with private industry,' tweeted Nasa administrator Bill Nelson before the launch. Reuters

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  The Inspiration4 mission is being financed and led by Jared Isaacman, 38, the founder of Shift4 Payments. AFP

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  Mr Isaacman is the latest billionaire entrepreneur to set his sights on the stars, after Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos both blasted into space this summer. AFP

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  Mr Isaacman hopes to outdo other space tourism pioneers with an even more ambitious mission. AFP

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  The SpaceX webcast livestreamed what pilot Sian Proctor could see as the rocket headed for the stars. AFP

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  Inspiration4 crew on their first day in space. Reuters

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  First day at the office. Inspiration4 crew Jared Isaacman, Sian Proctor, Hayley Arceneaux, and Chris Sembroski in zero gravity. Reuters

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  The citizen astronauts splash down safely in SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule off Florida. Reuters

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  A SpaceX capsule carrying four people is lifted from the Atlantic Ocean on to a recovery vessel. AP

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  Jared Isaacman emerges from the capsule after it was recovered following its splashdown. AP

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  Chris Sembroski celebrates their return to Earth. AP

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  Sian Proctor sets foot on Earth for the first time after completing the mission. AP

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  Next amateur astronaut out is Hayley Arceneaux. AP

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  The crew was the first to circle the Earth without a professional astronaut. AP

Of the four, only Dr Marshburn has been to space before. The medical doctor flew aboard a Space Shuttle in 2009 and a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on a mission from 2012-13.

Ms Barron is the most recent recruit and previously served in the US Navy’s submarine fleet. She was selected for the Nasa astronaut corps in 2017, along with Lt Col Chari, and told reporters she saw many parallels between that experience and going to space.

The pair are also in the running for Nasa’s Artemis missions to return humans to the Moon later this decade.

Dr Maurer, a materials science engineer, will become the 12th German to go to space and will join fellow ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France on the ISS, an overlap that is likely to last several days before the Frenchman returns to Earth with the rest of his Crew-2 colleagues.

What science experiments will the crew conduct?

Scientific highlights of the mission include an experiment to grow plants in space without soil and another to build optical fibres in microgravity, which prior research has suggested will be superior in quality to those made on Earth.

Dr Maurer will help set up the European Robotic Arm, being installed on the Russian side of the ISS, and test out Cimon – an artificial intelligence assistant developed by the German space agency DLR, Airbus and IBM.

“It’s an experiment which is really paving the way towards exploration,” he said.

The AI assistant may one day act as a geology expert that astronauts on a future mission to Mars could consult for quick answers, because the time to communicate with Earth would be 40 minutes, he said.

The Crew-3 astronauts will also conduct spacewalks to complete the upgrade of the station’s solar panels and will be present for two tourism missions, accompanying Japanese tourists aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft at the end of 2021 and the Space-X Axiom crew, set for launch in February 2022.

Crew-3 is part of Nasa’s multibillion-dollar partnership with SpaceX, which it signed after ending the Space Shuttle programme in 2011 to restore American capacity to carry out human space flight.

Boeing is also part of the same commercial programme, but its Starliner capsule has been beset by delays and will not fly its first crew until the end of 2022 at the earliest.