Space mission with Polish astronaut called off again
The planned Sunday launch of Axiom Mission 4, a commercial flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with Poland's Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski on its four-member crew, has been called off in yet another rescheduling.
The space flight is coordinated between US space agency NASA, US space infrastructure developer Axiom Space and US billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, which provides the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
"NASA has made the decision to stand down from a launch on Sunday, June 22, and will target a new launch date in the coming days," NASA said in a statement on Thursday.
"The space agency needs additional time to continue evaluating International Space Station operations after recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory's Zvezda service module," NASA explained.
"Because of the space station's interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure the station is ready for additional crew members, and the agency is taking the time necessary to review data," NASA added.
The original launch date was May 29, but it has since been rescheduled several times due to technical problems of the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft as well as unfavourable weather conditions.
Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski is among the four crew members set to fly. He will be joined by Peggy Whitson from the US, Shubhanshu Shukla from India and Tibor Kapu representing Hungary.
Uznanski-Wisniewski will become the first Pole to visit the ISS, and the second Polish person to travel to space after Miroslaw Hermaszewski's 1978 flight aboard the Soviet Soyuz 30 spacecraft. (PAP)
jd/mf/ kgr/
