NASA delays launch of SpaceX Crew-3 due to 'minor medical issue' with astronaut

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has rescheduled the launch of the SpaceX Crew-3 rocket with four astronauts. As mentioned in a blog post by NASA, the delay in the upcoming launch to the International Space Station (ISS) is due to a 'minor medical issue', involving one of its crew members. However, the space agency cleared that the said health-related issue should not be attributed to COVID-19.

The SpaceX mission, which was originally scheduled for Sunday, 31 October, was earlier postponed to Wednesday, 3 November due to unsuitable weather conditions. The mission now has been further rescheduled for Saturday, 6 November night, NASA said in its blogpost. For the time being, the three-member crew will remain in quarantine at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Additionally, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 Rocket, which are in "good shape, will remain at the launchpad complex 39A at Kennedy, NASA said.

"Teams will continue to monitor crew health as they evaluate potential launch opportunities at the end of the week," the NASA said in its blogpost.

It is to be noted that the last time NASA delayed a scheduled launch over a medical issue was in 1990. The embarking of Space Shuttle Atlantis flight was postponed after mission commander John Creighton fell ill. The countdown was pushed back by three days until he was ready to fly, as per the space agency.

Three NASA astronauts join the SpaceX mission

The Crew-3 flight to the ISS will be carrying three NASA astronauts for a six months science mission until April 2022. The said flight will include Raja Chari as mission commander, Tom Mashburn as a mission pilot, Kayla Barron and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer as a mission specialist.

Chari has remained a US Air Force pilot for combat jets. He was the commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force. The 44-year-old has led many combat missions in Iraq and deployments in the Korean Peninsula.

Mission pilot Dr. Tom Mashburn was selected by NASA in 2004. He came to Houston Johnson Space Center in November 1994 as Flight Surgeon to Space Shuttle medical operations. He has also remained NASA representative to Harvard and MIT. He was part of the Soyuz TMA-07M launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

This is the third crew rotation mission with astronauts on the SpaceX Dragon spaceflight and the fourth flight with astronauts, NASA said. The space agency will also continue to evaluate dates for a return to Earth for the Crew-2 members who are onboard in the ISS. The teams will review the safety return of NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA stated.

(Image: @SpaceX/NASA)