SpaceX launch delayed by weather, as Elon Musk says he tested positive – and negative – for Covid-19
- In a series of tweets, the tech entrepreneur said he had conflicting results from rapid ‘antigen’ tests for coronavirus
- SpaceX will now launch four astronauts into orbit on Sunday evening for Nasa’s first ‘operational’ mission using a privately owned spacecraft
The lift-off time slipped from Saturday to Sunday evening due to forecasts of gusty, onshore winds over Florida – remnants of Tropical Storm Eta – that would have made a return landing for the Falcon 9 rocket’s reusable booster stage difficult, Nasa officials said.
In a series of tweets early on Friday, Musk said he had conflicting results from rapid “antigen” tests for Covid-19 after he had “mild sniffles & cough & slight fever” in recent days. “Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today,” he wrote. “Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse.”
02:50
US sets record high for daily new coronavirus cases with more than 142,000 infections reported
SpaceX’s newly designed Crew Dragon capsule, dubbed “Resilience” by its crew, was rescheduled for launch atop the Falcon 9 at 7.27pm Eastern time on Sunday (00:27 GMT on Monday) from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.