Source: AFP
A SpaceX rocket blasted off Saturday with two passengers aboard, leaving two empty seats for the return of American astronauts who have been stranded for months on the International Space Station, NASA said.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 1:17 p.m. (1717 Greek time) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It used a new launch pad, the first use of the pad for a crewed mission.
“Congratulations to @NASA and @SpaceX on a successful launch,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a post on X. “We live in an exciting time of exploration and innovation in the stars.”
On board were NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
When they return from the space station in February, they will bring back two space veterans — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — whose stay on the ISS was extended for months by problems with the Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft.
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The newly developed Starliner was making its first crewed flight when it delivered Wilmore and Williams to the ISS in June.
They were only supposed to be there for eight days, but after problems arose with the Starliner’s propulsion system during the flight there, NASA was forced to consider a radical change in plans.
‘A bit unique’
Source: AFP
After weeks of intensive testing of the Starliner’s reliability, the space agency finally decided to return it to Earth without its crew and bring the two stranded astronauts back home on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
“We know this launch is a little bit unique in going from the two-crew plan,” NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free told reporters.
“I want to thank SpaceX for their support and flexibility.”
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SpaceX, the private company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, conducts regular missions every six months to allow ISS crews to rotate.
But Crew-9’s launch was delayed from mid-August to late September to give NASA experts more time to assess the Starliner’s reliability and decide how to proceed.
It was then delayed a few more days by the devastating passage of Hurricane Helene, a powerful storm that hit Florida’s opposite coast on Thursday.
Source: AFP
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft is due to dock with the ISS on Sunday around 2130 GMT.
After mission handoff is cleared, the four members of Crew-8 will return to Earth on another SpaceX craft.
In total, Hague and Gorbunov will spend about five months on the ISS. Wilmore and Williams, eight months.
In total, Crew-9 will conduct about 200 science experiments.
Source: AFP
