Last-minute technical trouble forced SpaceX to call off Monday\u2019s attempt to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
\nThe countdown was halted with just two minutes remaining until liftoff from Kennedy Space Center. With just a split second to blast off, there was no time to deal with the problem, which involved the engine ignition system.
\nSpaceX did not immediately say when it would try again. The next attempt could come as early as Tuesday, although poor weather was forecast.
\nStrapped into the capsule atop the Falcon rocket were two NASA astronauts, one Russian cosmonaut and one astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.
\nWhen informed by SpaceX that the fuel would start to be drained from the rocket, commander Stephen Bowen replied: \u201cWe’ll be sitting here waiting.\u201d It was expected to take nearly an hour.
\nBowen and his crew \u2014 including the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates assigned to a monthslong mission, Sultan al-Neyadi \u2014 will replace another SpaceX crew that flew to the space station in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last-minute technical trouble forced SpaceX to call off Monday\u2019s attempt to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. The countdown was halted with just two minutes remaining until liftoff from Kennedy Space Center. With just a split second to blast off, there was no time to deal with the problem, which involved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-316333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n