Revised and Updated:Crew-4 Launch Delayed by Bad Weather for Axiom-1 Mission Return Flight

The NASA/ESA Crew-4 launch to the International Space Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed by bad weather at the SpaceX splashdown sites for the Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule that carried four private Axiom astronauts to the ISS.The Endeavour capsule is currently docked at the docking port the Crew-4 Freedom capsule will need to use,so there cannot be a Crew-4 launch until the Axiom astronauts are able to return.The return of the Endeavour capsule cannot be till Thursday night at the earliest.Then there must be a two-day hold while NASA reviews data.* Nonetheless,the four Crew-4 astronauts went ahead with their dry run exercise Wednesday,donning their SpaceX spacesuits and riding out to Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A in Tesla vehicles.They rode the elevator up to the Crew Dragon Freedom capsule,walked through the access arm,got into the capsule and assumed their launch positions. Realistically,the Crew-4 launch will be next week at the earliest.* Preparations are meanwhile underway for the uncrewed test flight (0FT-2) of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner,which is to be launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on 19 May 2022.OFT-1 took place in December 2019,but was partially unsuccessful because of software glitches.ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.* Boeing (BA),Lockheed Martin (LMT) Update:NASA has announced in its blog that the Endeavour capsule will depart the ISS on Saturday night, with splashdown off the Florida coast on Sunday afternoon.After a two-day program review to ensure that Crew-4 launch aligns with integrated operational timelines and data review from Endeavour's splashdown,and to arrange for Crew-4 recovery assets in the event of an abort,Crew-4 will have launch opportunities for early morning Tuesday and further chances on Wednesday and Thursday.