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error forced SpaceX to delay its shipment to the International Space Station on
Wednesday, following an otherwise flawless flight from NASA’s historic
moon
pad.
SpaceX's
supply ship, the Dragon, was less than a mile from the orbiting outpost when a
problem cropped up in the GPS system. The approach was aborted, and the Dragon
backed away. NASA said neither the station nor its six-person crew was in any
danger.
"As a
pilot it is sometimes better to accelerate and circle around than attempt a
difficult landing," French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said in a tweet from
the space station. "Same in space - we'll be ready tomorrow!"
Just a few
hours earlier, Russia successfully launched a cargo ship from Kazakhstan, its
first since a failed launch in December.
SpaceX
launched the Dragon capsule Sunday from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex
39A, out of action since NASA’s space shuttle program ended in 2011. It's the
same spot where astronauts flew to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
SpaceX has a 20-year lease with NASA for 39A; besides launching station cargo
from there, the company hopes to send up astronauts as early as next year.
Everything was
going well with this latest SpaceX flight until the GPS issue. The Dragon's
computers halted the rendezvous from just seven-tenths of a mile away. SpaceX
said the problem is well understood and can be fixed before another delivery
attempt Thursday. The Russian supplies should arrive Friday.
This was the
first time that SpaceX had to abort a shipment at the last minute like this.
The company, led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been making station
deliveries since 2012.
The
250-mile-high station is home to two Americans, three Russians and France's
Pesquet.
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