SpaceX launches Crew-9 to ISS after hurricane delays
6:49 AM EDT, September 29, 2024
From Cape Canaveral in the USA, the SpaceX Crew-9 spacecraft, with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, launched on Saturday to the International Space Station (ISS). In February, two other astronauts who got stuck on the ISS in June will return to Earth with this spacecraft.
The launch took place after several delays (most recently due to Hurricane Helene) from the Space Launch Complex-40. This is the first crewed space mission launched from this location.
Crew-9 is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Sunday at 5:30 PM Eastern Time.
Upon arriving at the International Space Station (ISS), Hague and Gorbunov will conduct a five-month scientific mission. After the mission is completed, they will return to Earth with American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who traveled to the ISS in June on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
They were supposed to spend seven days on the ISS, but will stay for nine months
Wilmore and Williams were supposed to return to Earth after seven days, but due to technical problems with the capsule, NASA decided they would remain in space until February 2025. The Starliner capsule returned to Earth without a crew on September 7th.
Due to this situation, NASA reduced the crew size. Originally assigned to the scientific mission, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were excluded. They are now scheduled to go to the ISS with the next crew.
