Blue Origin's ambitious New Glenn rocket launch was scrubbed not once, but twice, due to unfavorable weather conditions. Initially, bad weather on Earth led to the cancellation of Sunday's launch attempt. However, it was the adverse space weather that prompted the postponement of Wednesday's planned launch. A pair of Mars-bound satellites, part of NASA's ESCAPADE mission, were set to be launched on the New Glenn rocket.
The mission, which stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, aims to explore the Martian environment. To safeguard the payload, Blue Origin decided to delay the launch. The culprit behind the scrub was the solar storms enveloping the planet in spectacular displays of aurora borealis. The elevated solar activity posed a risk to the ESCAPADE spacecraft, prompting NASA to postpone the launch until space weather conditions improve.
As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, Blue Origin announced on Wednesday that they would reassess the launch window based on forecasted space weather and range availability. The rocket remained at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Launch Complex 36, awaiting a new launch window. In a swift turnaround, Blue Origin scheduled another launch attempt for Thursday, with a window from 2:57-4:25 p. m.
CAPE CANAVERAL — Bad weather on Earth was blamed for the first launch scrub of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket Sunday, while bad space weather was ...More takeaways: Check here
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