Following several months of uncertainty, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov successfully docked their SpaceX Dragon capsule with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. They were there to retrieve Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been aboard the ISS since June 2024.
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#SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule, which is due to bring home stuck astronauts #ButchWilmore and #SunitaWilliams next year, arrived at International Space Station.
The #SpaceX Crew-9 mission was supposed to carry four astronauts to the #ISS until two empty seats had to be opened… pic.twitter.com/0IgwUzgNJq
— Vibes of India (@vibesofindia_) September 30, 2024
Upon their arrival, they were welcomed by the Expedition 72 crew, which included NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
The rescue mission, launched by SpaceX on Saturday, is set to return them home next year. Hague and Gorbunov accessed the International Space Station (ISS) after opening the hatch connecting the space station to the pressurized mating adapter at 7:04 p.m. EDT, subsequently opening the hatch to the Dragon spacecraft, as reported by NASA.
Hague and Gorbunov received a warm reception from the Expedition 72 crew aboard the space station. This team included NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Don Petitt, Butch Wilmore, and Sunita Williams, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner.
In a recent post on X, NASA’s Johnson Space Center announced, “An official welcome! The Expedition 72 crew greeted Crew 9, which includes NASA astronauts Nick Hague, serving as the Crew 9 commander, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who is the mission specialist for Crew 9, following their journey aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.”
For a brief period, the crew aboard the space station will increase to 11 individuals until Crew-8 members Dominick, Barratt, Epps, and Grebenkin return to Earth in early October.
On Saturday, SpaceX successfully launched a two-man crew to the International Space Station (ISS), delivering supplies and two vacant seats for Starliner astronauts who are expected to return home in February after an unplanned eight-and-a-half-month mission in orbit, as reported by CBS News.
#NASA and #SpaceX launched the Crew-9 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, US, with two passengers on board and two empty seats to bring back astronauts #SunitaWilliams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded on the International Space Station for months.… pic.twitter.com/ujmblZ9C8S
— DD News (@DDNewslive) September 29, 2024
The launch experienced a two-day delay due to adverse weather conditions, including high winds, rain, and clouds linked to Hurricane Helene. Ultimately, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited and ascended from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 1:17 PM EDT, following a north-easterly path that was directly aligned with the orbital plane of the ISS.
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