NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-9 mission on Saturday, September 28, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States. This mission is of particular significance as it aims to return veteran astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS) following an extended stay caused by technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner, their original transport vehicle.
The launch was initially set for September 26 but was delayed due to adverse weather conditions from Hurricane Helene, impacting Florida’s Gulf Coast. The mission proceeded from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral.
Crew-9 represents the ninth crew rotation mission within SpaceX’s human space transportation system and marks the tenth astronaut flight to the ISS, including the Demo-2 test flight. It is a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to safely transport astronauts to and from the space station.
NASA’s Flight Readiness Review confirmed the operational status of all systems, verifying that the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft were prepared for the mission.
The Crew-9 mission is commanded by NASA astronaut Nick Hague, with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov as the mission specialist. They will travel to the ISS to begin a five-month mission, conducting more than 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations.
Additionally, the mission is tasked with returning Williams and Wilmore, who were stranded on the ISS following thruster malfunctions on their Starliner capsule. The capsule was sent back uncrewed on September 7 for evaluations, prolonging the astronauts’ stay on the ISS since June.
The Crew-9 launch is also historically significant as it is the first crewed launch from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex-40. Crew-9 is scheduled to dock with the ISS around 5:30 PM EDT (3:00 am Sunday IST), marking a crucial step in ensuring the safe return of Williams and Wilmore.
Wilmore and Williams, who embarked on their journey aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June, are scheduled to return with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025, as per NASA’s announcement.
After today’s successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area.
We will resume launching after we…
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 29, 2024
