Crew Dragon launch scrubbed, next attempt on May 30

The Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon on the morning of the May 27, 2020, launch attempt. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

The historic launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft was postponed because of weather concerns. This would have been the first human orbital spaceflight from U.S. soil since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011.

Liftoff was targeted for 20:33 UTC May 27, 2020. NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken were set to fly to the International Space Station for a multi-week test mission. However, three weather constraint rules forced a scrub just 17 minutes before launch. Those were the electric field mill rule, the attached anvil rule and the lightning rule.

“We understand that everybody’s probably a little bit bummed out,” Spacecraft Commander Hurley said not long after the scrub call. “That’s just part of the deal. Everybody was ready today and we appreciate that. The ship looked great. We’ll do it again I think on Saturday.”

Hurley and Behnken went through the whole process of suiting up and transportation to the launch pad. They were then loaded into the spacecraft a few hours before the planned liftoff with the help of a closeout crew.

While weather was a concern during the whole countdown, including in an abort zone off the coast of South Carolina, SpaceX opted to begin loading fuel into the rocket at the T-minus 35 minute mark. 

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley were strapped into the Crew Dragon capsule about 2 hours before launch. Credit: SpaceX/NASA

For safety during fuel loading, Crew Dragon’s launch abort system was armed at T-minus 37 minutes, just in case something went “off nominal.” This “load-n-go” procedure is normal for Falcon 9 launches. However, it was the first time is was done with people sitting inside a capsule on top of the rocket.

Aside from the weather, everything went as planned. In fact, the crew and launch teams were slightly ahead of the timeline for most of the day.

After the scrub, Hurley and Behnken had to wait until the rocket was fully de-tanked and their launch escape system disarmed before the crew access arm was rotated back to the capsule.

Once the arm was back, the pad crew returned to begin helping the astronauts out of the Dragon capsule.

According to NASA and SpaceX, the crew is expected to try again on Saturday, May 30, to launch toward the ISS. Liftoff time will be 19:22 UTC. Rendezvous with the space station should occur about 19 hours later.

SpaceX mission control thanked Hurley and Behnken for their resilience following the May 27 scrub.

“We’ve got the easy job,” Hurley said. “Nothing better than being prime crew on a new spaceship.”