NASA-SpaceX delay return mission of stranded astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore

NASA-SpaceX postponed the launch of Falcon 9 just an hour before it was set to liftoff from Florida, carrying four astronauts supposed to have replaced the stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.

NASA and SpaceX stopped the launch attempt of the agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station because of a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The next launch will be attempted no earlier than 7:03 pm EDT (4:33 am IST) on March 14.

"Mission managers met this evening and decided to wave off a launch attempt on Thursday, March 13, due to high winds and precipitation forecasted in the flight path of Dragon," it said.

ASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov have safely exited the Dragon spacecraft. The rocket is also safe.

The SpaceX crew Dragon was to bring back Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore if all had gone well by March 19.

NASA had factored in a quicker turnaround time for the SpaceX Crew Dragon to minimize the use of consumables at the International Space Station.

Sunita Williams, who flew to space with Butch Wilmore for eight days, has been onboard the ISS for over eight months (since June last year).

They have been ‘stuck’ onboard the International Space Station (ISS) following technical issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft that extended their mission.