The SpaceX flight, which should have left Florida for the International Space Station (ISS) Monday morning, is still on the ground. A technical error in the ground system threw a wrench in the works two minutes before takeoff. There would have been problems with the supply of the fuel necessary for the launch.
Since then, four crew members – two Americans, a Russian and a United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut – have been removed from the rocket. On Tuesday, Earth and the ISS will be back in position for another launch attempt. But it is not certain that the technical problems will be solved by then. The weather conditions must also be good.
One of the crew members is Sultan al-Neyadi (41) from the Emirates. That country wants to profile itself with space travel. In 2019, another astronaut from the United Arab Emirates was on the ISS for about a week. Since last year, a satellite of the country has been orbiting Mars, and by the end of this year an unmanned car should reach the Moon.
Another member of the crew is the American Warren Hoburg, 37 years old. He is being trained to go to the moon in a few years. He is one of the astronauts of the so-called Artemis program.
The other two who will go to the ISS on Monday are the American Stephen Bowen (59) and the Russian Andrej Fedjaev (42).
There are now three residents from the United States, three from Russia, and one Japanese on the ISS. Four of them are due to return to Earth next month. Replacement transport for the other three arrived on Sunday, a new boat with which they will be able to return in September. The spaceship they were supposed to leave with has been destroyed by the impact of space debris. That ship will fly back to Earth next month without humans on board.
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