Florida. The SpaceX mission took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday. In which there were two passengers and two vacant seats. So that astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore can be brought back. These two astronauts have been stranded on the International Space Station for months. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 6, 2024, due to complications in their original spacecraft, Boeing’s Starliner.
The Crew-9 mission will carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov to the ISS. The unique thing is that this flight has only two crew members instead of the usual four. Because the remaining seats are reserved for the return trip of Williams and Wilmore. The Crew Dragon spacecraft is expected to dock with the ISS on September 29. Williams and Wilmore’s extended stay on the ISS was necessitated by technical problems with their Starliner capsule. In which several helium leaks and thruster failures were experienced during the docking process.
After careful investigation, NASA deemed it too risky to return astronauts on Starliner and opted to send the spacecraft back without a crew on September 6. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has been important in facilitating crew rotation on the ISS. The Crew-9 mission is the ninth operational flight for SpaceX under the program since its inception in 2020.
Good news from space, astronauts returned from their walk, the way is clear for Sunita Williams’ safe return!
In case of an emergency before Crew-9’s arrival, there is a contingency plan allowing Williams and Wilmore to use the Crew-8 Dragon capsule currently docked on the ISS. Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, acknowledged the challenges the astronauts will face during this extended mission, but expressed confidence in their ability to adapt and thrive in space.
Tags: International Space Station, Nasa study, space, space news
FIRST PUBLISHED: September 28, 2024, 23:47 IST
