Another launch delay for Cedar Falls astronaut, bound for space station

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — The first space flight for an Iowa native is being pushed back again.

The SpaceX Crew-3 mission was originally going to lift off early on Halloween morning, but that launch was pushed to Wednesday due to bad weather.

Now, NASA is making the rare move of postponing that launch, too, due to a minor medical issue involving one of the crew, but didn’t specify who.

The four-person crew includes Raja Chari of Cedar Falls. He’s the mission commander and they’re headed to the International Space Station for six months.

A news release says the delay is not a medical emergency and not related to COVID-19. The next launch window for the Falcon 9 rocket is for late on Saturday.