The departure of SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon from the International Space Station was postponed Monday morning due to the weather in the ejection zone on the east coast of Florida.
The unmanned spacecraft would initially disengage at 9:25 p.m. but was moved back to 10 a.m. ET due to bad weather from Daytona. The room was scratched for the day shortly before 10:00 ET.
“A new decoupling date and time is currently being evaluated,” NASA’s Kennedy Space Center tweeted.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN’S CYGNUS SPACE AIRCRAFT LEAVES SPACE STATION, NEW TECHNIQUE FOR DESTRUCTION TEST
This image shows how the SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle is connected to the space-oriented international docking adapter of the Harmony module.
(Credit: NASA TV)
If the disconnection went as planned, Cargo Dragon would have undertaken a parachute jump around 9pm ET on Monday.
“By splashing off the coast of Florida, science can be quickly transported aboard the capsule to the Kennedy Space Center’s space facility processing facility, and back into the hands of scientists,” NASA explained in a note that was announced on January 4th. This shorter transport time allows researchers to collect data with minimal loss of microgravity effects. ‘
The CRS-21 cargo spacecraft was launched on December 6, 2020 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station. The cargo ship delivered more than 6,400 pounds of hardware, research and crew supplies.
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Last week, the Northrop Grumman unmanned Cygnus spacecraft left the space station. Cygnus will remain in orbit until January 26 and test new technologies before being fiercely destroyed when it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
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