Crewed SpaceX Mission Delayed After Leak in Ground Equipment

Crewed SpaceX Mission Delayed After Leak in Ground Equipment
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is prepared for launch of Polaris Dawn, a private human spaceflight mission, as photographers look on at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Aug. 26, 2024. Joe Skipper/Reuters
Reuters
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The launch of SpaceX’s four-person Polaris Dawn mission will be delayed by at least a day because of a helium leak in ground equipment at Kennedy Space Center, the company said on Tuesday, hours before the scheduled liftoff of its Crew Dragon capsule.

The highlight of the five-day mission is expected to come two days after launch, when the crew embarks on a 20-minute spacewalk 434 miles (700 km) from earth, in history’s first such private spacewalk.