A problem with the launch pad caused SpaceX to postpone a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday evening to replace two stranded NASA astronauts.
The new crew is set to head to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to Earth after nine months in orbit.
About four hours before the launch of the Falcon rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, specialists discovered some worrying elements in the hydraulic system.
Engineers evaluated the hydraulic system used to release one of the two arms that hold the rocket on the launch pad. The structure must tilt back immediately before the rocket is launched.
Strapped into their capsule, the four astronauts awaited a final decision, which came with less than an hour left before launch.
SpaceX canceled the launch but did not announce a new date for the launch into space, while emphasizing that the next test could be on Thursday evening.
The American, Japanese and Russian crews will replace astronauts Wilmore and Williams, who have been stuck on the space station since June. The two test pilots remained on the space station after the Boeing Starliner capsule they were traveling in suffered a malfunction.
NASA said at the time that returning the astronauts on the Boeing spacecraft was too risky. According to the announcement, the two astronauts will remain on the space station until February next year.
The first flight with the Boeing spacecraft was expected to last a week, but NASA ordered the capsule to return to Earth empty and the two astronauts, Wilmore and Williams, to return with the SpaceX capsule.
In 2014, NASA signed a $4.2 billion contract with Boeing to build a spacecraft to send astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA also signed a similar $2.6 billion contract with SpaceX. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft has received NASA approval to send astronauts to space as early as 2020.
A recent SpaceX probe delivered more food and clothing to astronauts Wilmore and Williams to make their stay in space more comfortable./ Voice of America (A2 Televizion)
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