A wayward boat, weather and technical problems scrubbed NASA’s first attempt to launch a new exploration capsule Thursday morning.
Teams plan to try again today to launch a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying an unmanned Orion capsule on its first test flight from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Today’s targeted launch time is again 7:05 a.m., but the weather forecast is worse, with only a 40 percent chance of acceptable conditions during the roughly two-and-a-half hour window.
Orion is the Apollo-like capsule NASA is developing to fly astronauts to an asteroid by the 2020s, and potentially Mars by the 2030s.
Crews won’t climb on board before 2021.
The $375 million mission at hand is an early test intended to fly Orion’s crew module for two orbits, primarily testing the crew module’s computers, heat shield and parachutes.
Exploration Flight Test-1 hopes to culminate with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean four-and-a-half hours after the launch from Florida.
Thursday’s planned 7:05 a.m. liftoff was delayed when a boat strayed into the launch zone. Strong winds then twice halted countdowns within a few minutes of liftoffs planned at 7:17 a.m. and 7:55 a.m.
Finally, sensors showed liquid oxygen valves had not closed properly in two Delta IV rocket boosters, stopping another try at 8:26 a.m.
The launch time was reset once more for the end of the window at 9:44 a.m., but the valve trouble couldn’t be resolved in time.
Engineers expect to solve the problem and be ready to try again today.
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