Hurricane Milton Delays Return of Four Astronauts from ISS

Hurricane Milton has delayed the earthly return of four astronauts from the ISS. NASA and SpaceX initially planned for the Crew-8 mission to depart from the International Space Station on 7 October, Space reported. The plans were altered because of Hurricane Milton's arrival, a Category 4 storm.

Crew-8 mission was launched on March 3 and the spacecraft reached the ISS two days later. The mission's objective was to conduct new scientific research, to help humans in expanding their scope of exploration beyond low Earth orbit, NASA reported. 

The astronauts in the mission include Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Alexander Grebenkin, Space reported. The team was supposed to land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Hurricane Milton is steadily heading toward the Sunshine State and is expected to make headway there on October 16, BBC reported.

NASA and Space X authorities chose not to take a risk and delayed the landing, Space reported. "NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than 3:05 a.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 13, for the undocking of the Crew-8 mission from the International Space Station due to weather conditions and potential impacts from Hurricane Milton across the Florida peninsula," NASA officials announced. The organization will have its next weather briefing on October 11. 

This is not the first time the Crew-8 mission has been impacted by a storm, Space reported. The spacecraft's return plans involved the arrival of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission at ISS. Due to Hurricane Helene's presence in Florida, Crew-9's launch was pushed back by two days. The spacecraft ultimately arrived at ISS on September 29. 

Several other space missions have also been impacted by Hurricane Milton, Space reported. NASA and SpaceX have indefinitely delayed the launch of the Europa Clipper spacecraft. Clipper is a $5 billion project which was built to be sent to the Jupiter ocean moon Europa, to analyze the life-hosting potential of the particular celestial body.

"The safety of launch team personnel is our highest priority, and all precautions will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft," Tim Dunn, senior launch director at NASA’s Launch Services Program, said about the delay, USA Today reported.