Stranded NASA astronauts suffer another setback as Elon's Musk's SpaceX rocket launch is delayed
By ELLYN LAPOINTE and BRITTANY CHAIN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 19:24 EDT, 12 March 2025 | Updated: 20:29 EDT, 12 March 2025
The mission to rescue NASA's stranded astronauts has been delayed yet again, marking another setback in the nine-month-long saga.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 7:48pm ET Wednesday, but the mission was scrubbed at the 11th hour.
The mission was taking four astronauts to replace Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June.
The quad of astronauts were all ready to go and strapped into their seats when the mission was aborted less than 30 minutes before they were due to launch.
It's a disappointing outcome for NASA and SpaceX, and undoubtedly the two astronauts stranded in space.
Both NASA and SpaceX will now reconvene on Thursday evening to have a second attempt at launching. Commentators from SpaceX said there would also be an opportunity on Friday if the original backup launch also fails.
This would have let Williams and Wilmore flee the ISS two days later and be back on Earth with the families by Sunday.
The delay comes as Elon Musk said he offered to bring the pair home eight months ago, but the Biden Administration shot it down because it would've made Donald Trump 'look good' in the presidential race against Kamala.
The quad of astronauts were all ready to go and strapped into their seats when the mission was aborted less than 30 minutes before they were due to launch
The next rescue mission has been rescheduled for March 13 at the earliest, which means Williams and Wilmore will not return to Earth until at least Monday.
At 6.55pm, just 50 minutes before takeoff and moments before the launch was scrubbed, SpaceX shared behind the scenes photos of the astronauts on X, captioned: 'Crew-10 is go for launch!'
But something went wrong with the clamp arm in an incident commentators described as a 'hydraulic ground issue' moments later, sparking an immediate halt on the mission.
The crew were taken from the rocket one at a time and led to several waiting Teslas, which are specially designed for the astronauts. They were driven to a quarantine location in Florida, where they must remain until the next launch attempt.
'We will not launch unless we know we can do so safely and reliably,' a SpaceX commentator said in the livestream of the event.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14492027/setback-stranded-NASA-astronauts-Elon-Musk-spacex.html
