NASA delays Crew-3 mission to Space Station with Astronaut Raja Chari due to a medical issue

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Crew-3 mission scheduled for November 3 launch has been postponed yet again and this time it is because of a rare medical issue with one of the astronauts. This is not the first time that the mission has been delayed. Only some days ago, the mission was delayed due to high winds and waves.

NASA has however not divulged any details related to which crew member is facing a medical issue and what exactly it is. But what NASA did clear is that it is not related to COVID-19. The mission will now be launched on November 6 from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. 

NASA has also stated that the Falcon-9 rocket and Dragon capsule will remain on the launch pad as engineers work out the next launch date. 

Crew-3 will send NASA astronauts - flight commander Raja Chari, 44, mission pilot Tom Marshburn, 61, and mission specialist Kayla Barron, 34 and the European Space Agency's (ESA) German astronaut Matthias Maurer, 51, to the International Space Station for a six-month stay. 

The team will ride to the orbiting lab in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

The last time NASA had delayed a scheduled launch over a medical issue involving the crew was for a Space Shuttle Atlantis flight in 1990. At that time the mission commander John Creighton fell ill. The countdown was halted for three days until he was cleared to fly, according to NASA. That delay was followed by two additional weather-related postponements.