SpaceX launch delayed due to astronaut 'minor medical issue'

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A aesculapian contented has sidelined 1 of 4 astronauts assigned to SpaceX’s upcoming formation to the International Space Station and delayed the launch, officials said Monday.

NASA said the motorboat is present disconnected until Saturday nighttime astatine the earliest. Liftoff had been scheduled for this past Sunday, but atrocious upwind offshore bumped it to Wednesday. It's the archetypal clip successful decades that a U.S. formation has been delayed by a unit member's health.

Officials would not accidental which astronaut is affected. They described it arsenic a “minor aesculapian issue” and said it is unrelated to COVID-19. The 1 German and 3 U.S. astronauts — who scope successful property from 34 to 61 — person been quarantined for 2 weeks arsenic accustomed earlier a spaceflight.

Once connected their way, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron and the European Space Agency's Matthias Maurer volition determination into the abstraction presumption for six months, replacing 4 astronauts who person been surviving up determination since April. NASA prefers launching the caller unit earlier bringing backmost the aged 1 truthful they tin person a face-to-face handover, but is considering “all options” successful airy of the latest delay.

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In 1990, a shuttle motorboat was delayed erstwhile the flight's commandant came down with a cold. And successful 1970, an astronaut was yanked from Apollo 13 soon earlier motorboat aft being exposed to German measles. He ne'er came down with measles, and aboriginal joined the herculean effort successful Houston to prevention his colleagues from their aborted satellite mission.

More recently, 2 Russian cosmonauts were replaced a mates months earlier their 2020 motorboat to the abstraction station, aft 1 of them suffered an oculus injury.

Earlier Monday afternoon, Maurer tweeted a photograph of himself connected the formation astatine Kennedy Space Center, holding a ample garbage bag.

“I’ve been relaxing during my quarantine by collecting rubbish connected the beach,” helium wrote. “Sadly, this is not the lone container I filled. We truly request to deliberation astir our biology interaction connected Earth and successful space. Clean oceans, cleanable space! It’s up to each of us.”

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