SpaceX rocket launch delayed until Wednesday

A SpaceX rocket launch has been delayed until Wednesday.

When it launches it will take a new crew to the International Space Station.

Navy Lieutenant Commander Kayla Barron and three colleagues will be there for the next six months.

She has already spent years on a series of groundbreaking missions *under the sea.*

Space feels like a good fit for Kayla Barron. Her career has thrived at the extremes.

Now 34, Commander Barron was among the U.S.’s Navy’s first women commissioned as a submarine warfare officer. Her sub, the USS Maine, carried 24.

After living hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface, she is about to soar roughly 250-miles above the earth.

“This is the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done. For me, being on a submarine felt pretty safe,” said Barron.

“Mark does it feel as though you’re going from living in a metal can underwater to living in a metal can up in space?” said Barron.

“Exactly! To me, when I look at the space station, I mean, I don’t know what other people think about it, but I go, “that’s a submarine in space.” I think about that every time I see it. It’s got a better view, though. Having windows is a nice upgrade,” said Barron.

Barron stepped into her first astronaut “suit” as a third-grader.

But she first seriously considered joining NASA while serving on that submarine.

Even now, launch weekend, actually going to space seems other-worldly.

“This will actually be the first rocket launch I’ve seen in person and I’ll be in the capsule on top of it!” said Barron.

“There’s this photo of you. You’ve got your arms wrapped around the booster.”

“They told us they were gonna take us on a tour. And I was like, “I’m gonna hug it.” you wanna, you know, just let the booster know that you’re excited to see her,  and can’t wait to see her on the launchpad,” said Barron.

She is a Barron, but not the German in this space – X crew.

That is astronaut Matthias Maurer.

Joining them, two more NASA astronauts: pilot Tom Marshburn, the only space veteran aboard, and commander Raja Chari.

During their six-month stay, a Japanese billionaire will arrive on a Russian Soyuz.

Followed by Axiom-1, the first all-civilian foursome to visit the ISS.

“We’re going to be busy up there every single day, so having four guests show up at your house – where you also work – is a challenge for sure.”

With these four astronauts, the number of people who have ever been to space will top 600 for the very first time.