WA state astronaut’s 1st launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center postponed

NASA astronaut Kayla Barron, from Richland, will have to wait a few more days to make her first flight into space.

She was scheduled to be on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance as a Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Halloween morning — or at 11:21 p.m. PDT Saturday.

But the launch was delayed due to weather conditions.

A large storm system meandering through the northeastern United States over the weekend was expected to create windy conditions and waves in the Atlantic Ocean along the Crew Dragon flight path on Oct. 31, NASA said Saturday.

The launch tentatively has been rescheduled for early morning Wednesday, Nov. 3, in Florida, or 10:10 p.m. PDT Tuesday for those planning to watch it online from the Tri-Cities on NASA TV at nasa.gov.

An 80% chance of favorable weather conditions is forecast then at the launch site, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Barron, a graduate of Richland High and the daughter of Lauri and Scott Sax of Richland, Wash., has been picked to spend six months aboard the International Space Station as a mission specialist, living and doing research as part of what is planned to be a seven-member crew.

She is part of the SpaceX Crew-3 that will fly to the space station soon. The crew includes NASA mission commander Raja Chari and NASA pilot Tom Marshburn. Also launching with them will be mission specialist Matthias Maurer of Germany with the European Space Agency.

Crew-3 should arrive at the space station about 8 p.m. PDT Wednesday for a short handover with the astronauts who flew to the station as part of the SpaceX Crew-2 Mission.

This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 8:51 PM with the headline "WA state astronaut’s 1st launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center postponed."