SpaceX and NASA have pushed back the return to Earth of four astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) to late Monday (November 8) due to bad weather at their splashdown site.
The original plan was for the U.S., French, and Japanese astronauts to leave the ISS on Sunday and splash down in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday morning, according to CTV News Canada.
But with high winds off the coast of Florida exceeding safety limits, “Mission teams decided to adjust the Sunday, Nov. 7, undocking following a planned weather review showing high winds unfavorable for recovery near the splashdown zone in the Gulf of Mexico,” NASA officials wrote in a statement late Saturday.
The astronauts will now undock from the space station Monday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. EST (1905 GMT) and splash down that night off the Florida coast at 10:33 p.m. EST (0333 GMT).
There is some good news that comes with the delay, though. The trip home will be about eight hours shorter – less than half as long as before. However, with the capsule’s toilet being broken, the astronauts will need to wear diapers.
SpaceX is also preparing to launch its next crewed flight for NASA, a four-person mission called Crew-3, which has been delayed by bad weather and a minor medical issue with one of its four crewmembers, reports Space.com.
The Crew-3 astronauts are now scheduled to launch no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 10, from Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is set for 9:03 p.m. EST (0403 GMT).
Last week, SpaceX and NASA flipped the order of the launch and landing because of the deteriorating weather and the looming deadline to get the capsule back from the space station. SpaceX capsules are certified for a maximum of 210 days in orbit, and the one up there now is approaching 200 days.
