A mission intended to complete the first-ever orbital docking of a privately-owned, unmanned spacecraft to the International Space Station was aborted at literally the last half-second before launch early Saturday, due to engine problems.
The company behind the launch, SpaceX, of Hawthorne, California, was seeking to make history by launching its Falcon 9 rocket carrying its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule, loaded with 1,200 lbs. of supplies, to the International Space Station, where the Dragon would have linked up with the space station and delivered the non-critical supplies to astronauts currently aboard the station.
Instead, the mission was “scrubbed” at the last-half second before takeoff at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center due to above-normal pressure readings in one of the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine engine chambers. Here’s a photo of the aborted launch, courtesy NASA:
NASA and SpaceX said the mission could be re-attempted as early as Tuesday, May 22 at 3:44 a,m. ET.
