NASA reschedules Crew-2 return and Crew-3 launch

Edinburgh, 8 November 2021. – The return of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 mission to Earth is scheduled for tonight with a splashdown off the coast of Florida. Mission teams decided to postpone the undocking from the ISS on 7th November due to unfavourable weather conditions, NASA said.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour will bring home NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet. The astronauts will have completed 199 days in space at the conclusion of their mission. The spacecraft will carry approximately 240 kg of hardware and scientific investigations as well.

The Crew-3 mission to the ISS also had to be postponed due to bad weather. The flight was further delayed because of a minor medical issue with one of the astronauts. Launch is now scheduled for 10th November on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. 

NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will fly aboard the Dragon spacecraft. The Crew-3 mission will be SpaceX’s fifth human spaceflight since May 2020.