More Time Needed To Evaluate Zvezda Repairs

NASA, in a statement on its blog, said the launch of the Axiom 4 mission targeted for June 22 has been delayed again due to the agency’s continuing evaluation of data related to repairs of the air leaks occurring within the transfer tunnel between the Russian Zvezda service module and the rest of the International Space Station.

A new date has not yet been determined but NASA will announce it in due time.

Here is the full statement by NASA:

“NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX continue reviewing launch opportunities for Axiom Mission 4 to the International Space Station. NASA has made the decision to stand down from a launch on Sunday, June 22, and will target a new launch date in the coming days.

“The space agency needs additional time to continue evaluating International Space Station operations after recent repair work in the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory’s Zvezda service module. Because of the space station’s interconnected and interdependent systems, NASA wants to ensure the station is ready for additional crew members, and the agency is taking the time necessary to review data.

“NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX appreciate the historic nature of this mission for the nations of India, Poland, and Hungary, as well as the world. The crew remains in quarantine in Florida, and the astronauts stand ready to launch when the station is ready to receive them.

“Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut S?awosz Uzna?ski-Wi?niewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary.

“SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft remain healthy on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”

FMI:  www.nasa.gov/