Scrub! SpaceX-NASA Intuitive Machines moon lander launch postponed to Thursday morning
Scrub! SpaceX crews have stood down from an early-morning Wednesday attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on the Intuitive Machines IM-1 mission from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Why? In an 11:31 p.m. EST Tuesday tweet, SpaceX officials announced they were standing down "due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load."
The new target liftoff time is 1:05 a.m. Thursday. Odysseus, the private company's moon lander, will launch via NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Artemis campaign.
After stage separation, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster will target landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — triggering sonic booms on the Space Coast.
Intuitive Machines and @SpaceX Complete Successful IM-1 Test Campaign:
Liftoff of the IM-1 mission is targeted for a multi-day launch window that opens at 12:57 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 14, 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at @NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.… pic.twitter.com/hDVxqhznjY— Intuitive Machines (@Int_Machines) February 13, 2024
The Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron pegs the odds of "go for launch" weather at 90% for the new Thursday target time. Thick cloud layers are the primary concern, along with a low-to-moderate risk of upper-level wind shear.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Scrub! SpaceX-NASA Intuitive Machines mission postponed to Thursday
