NASA astronaut Nick Hague, left, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are photographed as they exit the Control and Operations Building en route to Launch Complex 40 for their mission to the National Space Station ceremony on Saturday in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
John Raoux/AP
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John Raoux/AP
Two astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station after a successful SpaceX launch on Saturday.
The Crew-9 mission, led by Russian space agency astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:17 p.m. ET.
For the first time since SpaceX’s first crewed mission in 2020, it will carry two astronauts into orbit instead of four. They are saving space to bring two NASA astronauts stranded at the ISS home.
The stranded couple, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, flew to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5 on what was supposed to be an eight-day test mission. But both remained there due to concerns about the safety of Boeing’s capsule. NASA made a “difficult decision” return the Starliner to Earth without its crew earlier this month.
During the planned five-month mission to the ISS, the crew will conduct more than 200 scientific experiments and demonstrations including research on blood clotting and the effects of humidity on space-grown plants. space and changes in astronauts’ vision.
Hague and Gorbunov are expected to return to Earth with Wilmore and Williams on board in February.
