SpaceX Crew Dragon launch to space station delayed to Friday by weather

Launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station has been delayed 24 hours to Friday because of bad weather in the Atlantic Ocean where the crew could be forced to ditch in an emergency, NASA announced Wednesday.

Originally scheduled for liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:11 a.m. EDT Thursday, the flight was reset for 5:49 a.m. Friday, roughly the moment Earth's rotation carries pad 39A in line the space station's orbital path — a requirement for spacecraft trying to rendezvous with a target in low-Earth orbit. "We're going to have to delay a day, we're not going to be able to launch tomorrow morning," spaceport Director Bob Cabana told reporters. "Although the weather's probably going to look great here at the launch site, we're worried about those downrange winds and wave heights in case of an abort should that happen.