NASA, Russian space agency gear up for critical space station flights

Two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an Emirati flew to the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday to begin preparations for launch early Monday on a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to replace four crew members aboard the International Space Station who are wrapping up a five-month stay.

Launch had been planned for Sunday, but NASA and SpaceX managers ordered a 24-hour slip during a flight readiness review Tuesday to allow more time to close out a handful of open technical issues. Launch now is targeted for 1:45 a.m. EST Monday.

Steve Stich, manager of NASA's commercial crew program, said he expects the open items to be cleared by the end of the week.