Potential Engine Fire Delays NASA & SpaceX Astronaut By A Day

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NASA and SpaceX decided to delay their upcoming launch to the Inernational Space Station (ISS) for a crewed mission after the pair discovered some additional work that needed to be done on the Falcon 9 rocket. The agency held a teleconference earlier today in which NASA's director for the Commecial Crew Program, Mr. Steve Stich, shared the work that teams have to perform before the Falcon 9 is ready to take the crew to the station. This includes some work with the Dragon spacecraft and an anomaly that was discovered in the Faclon 9's engine bay during a recent Starlink flight.

NASA and SpaceX finished the Crew-6 mission's flight readiness review earlier today and shared the conclusions at the teleconference. The mission was initially slated to launch on Sunday, but it is now delayed by one day to take off early in the morning on the next day.

Between now and then, NASA and SpaceX have have a couple of items that they have to check off their list before the rocket can fly. One particular issue that sounds concerning is a fire in the engine bay of a Falcon 9 rocket that recently launched 12 satellites. Accoridng to Mr Stich, there was a fire in the rocket's engine bay which NASA and SpaceX are looking into, with the vehcile currently at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX launched a Starlink mission on February 12 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with a batch of 55 Starlink satellites using a rocket for the 12th time, but it is unlcear whether this is the same rocket present at Kennedy. Most other Starlink launches this year have not used a rocket twelve times.

Mr.