CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — NASA and SpaceX have decided to push the Crew 9 launch date as Helene bears down on the west Florida coast.

Due to Tropical Storm Helene’s path, Thursday’s launch has been bumped to 1:17 p.m. ET, Saturday, Sept. 28, according to NASA.

“Although Tropical Storm Helene is moving through the Gulf of Mexico and expected to impact the Florida panhandle, the storm system is large enough that high winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Florida’s east coast,” the U.S. space agency stated.

When it does come time for takeoff, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will be in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule as the company’s Falcon 9 rocket will leave Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Originally, the Crew-9 mission was going to see four members going up, but plans changed after Boeing’s maiden crewed flight of its Starliner capsule suffered mechanical issues — helium leaks and thrusters not working — that left NASA’s Cmdr. Barry "Butch" Wilmore and pilot Sunita "Suni" Williams on the International Space Station.

What was supposed to be an eightish-day mission in June turned into an eight-month task with NASA playing it safe and bringing Starliner home empty earlier this month.

This means that now SpaceX’s Dragon will be taking two up, but come February 2025, it will come down with two extra passengers, with Wilmore and Williams making four.

Learn more about the Starliner saga here.

Mother Nature messes around with launches

But it is not the first time mission managers have had to change plans because of Mother Nature.

On Sept. 27, 2022, was supposed to be the third launch attempt of the inaugural test flight of the Artemis moon mission, but a pair of hurricanes had other plans.

As Hurricane Ian bore down on Florida, NASA stood down from the launch.

The giant Space Launch System rocket took an eight-hour journey to roll from the launch pad to the Vehicle Assembly Building for protection against strong winds.

A new launch date of Nov. 14 was set, but Hurricane Nicole paid a visit, and the 322-foot-tall rocket and the Orion capsule were rolled back to Pad 39B, where it rode out that hurricane.

Once Nicole left, mission managers bumped the attempt to Nov. 16.

Protecting the shorelines of Kennedy Space Center

Since these storms, NASA engineers have developed restoration projects to protect Kennedy Space Center shorelines damaged by hurricanes like Ian and Nicole.

An area of the Jay-Jay bridge and tracks are not seen by the public. But the stretch of railroad is crucial for the space agency’s efforts to send people to space.

It is where the Space Launch System’s boosters are brought in for launches.

Tyler Sprouse and his team have temporarily re-enforced the area with rocks, but the long-term solution to reestablish the shoreline is on the way.

“Going out, putting wave breaks in to take a lot of the energy out of the waves, before they come to the shoreline, in addition there is some revetment we will put up here, and we will also add to the beach to help improve the area for the wildlife,” Sprouse explains.

Damage was also done to the more public areas, like the launch viewing spot at the Kennedy Space Center’s Saturn V Center butted up against the Banana River.

This is a favorite spot for guests to watch rockets fly from this unique place.

But there’s work to do to counteract the damage to the shoreline caused by the intense storms.

Thanks to an effort 10 years ago, you can now see the fruits of labor from a dune restoration project near Launch Pads 39 A and B.

Hurricane Sandy pounded this shoreline, destroying the dunes. About 90,000 cubic yards of sand were brought in, and 180,000 plants were placed along the restored stretch of beach to ward off erosion.