Abstract:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Space Exploration Technology Corporation (SpaceX) jointly announced that the "Crew-13" manned space launch originally scheduled to fly to the International Space Station will be postponed due to an oxidizer leak in the Dragon propulsion system during pre-launch preparations.
This fault was discovered by technicians during routine pre-launch processing and inspection of the spacecraft. As a key chemical component of rocket and spacecraft propulsion systems, oxidizer is mainly used to support propellant combustion and is an indispensable core element for the spacecraft to perform orbit changes, attitude adjustments, and safe return maneuvers in orbit. In response to this leak, the engineering teams of NASA and SpaceX have conducted in-depth reviews and additional tests, and are conducting a comprehensive review of relevant data. Officials emphasized that the spacecraft will only be cleared to fly again after troubleshooting is completely completed and all necessary repairs or rework are implemented. At present, the two parties have not announced a new target launch time.
This "Crew-13" mission was originally scheduled to send four astronauts to the International Space Station. The crew includes NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins as commander, NASA astronaut Luke Delaney as pilot, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos astronaut Sergey Teteryatnikov as mission specialists, respectively.
According to the original mission plan, the four astronauts will become long-term on-orbit members of Expedition 75 after arriving at the space station, responsible for the scientific research of the space station, daily maintenance inside and outside the cabin, and multiple on-orbit operations. About two weeks before the official launch, crew members will begin implementing strict medical isolation procedures at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to minimize the risk of astronauts contracting diseases before heading to space.
After receiving the final clearance, the "Crew-13" mission will be launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Teams from both parties stated that once testing, data review and all necessary maintenance operations of the spacecraft are successfully completed, the final launch window will be announced.
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