Florida: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to launch the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, tasked with bringing back ‘stranded’ Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from space.
The launch of the mission is planned for September 26 from Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. This is also the initial human spaceflight mission to be launched from Space Launch Complex-40. The crewed flight in February 2025 will bring the astronauts back to Earth.
Experienced astronauts Williams and Wilmore embarked on an eight-day space mission in June this year aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Nevertheless, the Starliner encountered technical difficulties and came back without its crew to prioritize the astronauts' safety.
Commander Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will travel to the ISS on the Dragon spacecraft. The Falcon-9 rocket, famous for being reusable and dependable, is scheduled to transport these two astronauts and will also have room for Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore.
After finishing pre-flight isolation in Houston, the two astronauts reached Kennedy Space Center on September 21. The SpaceX teams are doing last-minute checks and run-throughs to guarantee a successful mission.
This upcoming endeavor will mark another significant achievement in the collaboration between SpaceX and NASA, showcasing the Dragon spacecraft's capabilities that have been crucial in enabling human space travel since its inaugural manned journey in 2020.
At first, the Crew-9 was scheduled to blast off with a team of four. However, NASA had to change its plans due to challenges with the Starliner spacecraft. The revision of the initial mission motivated the four astronauts to prepare themselves for the upcoming mission.
The American space agency stated that Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore, and Williams will board Dragon in February 2025, autonomously detach, and leave the space station.
