SpaceX, NASA postpone Crew-3 Dragon spacecraft launch due to rough wind, waves

Due to a large storm system meandering across the Ohio Valley and through the northeastern United States this weekend, elevating winds and waves in the Atlantic Ocean along the Crew Dragon flight path for the October 31 launch attempt, NASA and SpaceX are now targeting Wednesday, November 3, for the agency's Crew-3 launch to the International Space Station, according to the press release.

Four astronauts were scheduled to launch on a six-month mission to the International Space Station early Sunday morning. While the prediction for NASA's Kennedy Space Center was near-perfect, the sea was churning further up the coast due to a huge storm in the Northeast. Managers decided to postpone the SpaceX astronaut flight launch on Saturday due to the safety infraction.

In case something goes wrong and the capsule needs to perform an emergency splashdown, SpaceX requires good weather all the way up the Eastern Seaboard and across the North Atlantic to Ireland for crew launches. On Wednesday, the weather is forecast to be more pleasant. Until then, one German and three American astronauts will be stationed at the Kennedy Space Center.

Overlap with Crew-2 mission for astronauts

NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kyala Barron, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Mathias Maurer, will embark on a long-duration science mission inside the orbiting laboratory, where they will live and work as part of a seven-member crew, according to NASA. There would be some overlap with the Crew-2 mission for astronauts. According to NASA, astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet are slated to return to Earth between early and mid-November.

The Dragon spacecraft has been modified by SpaceX to protect the communications system from radiation and to enable faultless docking processes and procedures once it reaches the International Space Station. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, promised a better waste management system after the launch of the Inspiration4 spacecraft, and the Endurance spaceship now has one. This will be SpaceX's fourth NASA astronaut journey in the last 1 1/2 years, as well as the company's fifth passenger flight. SpaceX launched its first private trip last month, carrying a billionaire and three companions into orbit.

(Image: SpaceX)