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NASA SpaceX Crew-9, consisting of astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, has arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The mission, which is tasked with retrieving “stranded” Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from space, is set to launch on Sept. 26.
Hague and Gorbunov will now quarantine in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Center.
While there, they will conduct mission dry dress rehearsals, perform sleep shifts to align their rest and wakefulness periods with mission requirements, rehearse flight procedures, as well as call family and friends.
SpaceX Crew-9 will also be welcomed by NASA leaders for a brief welcoming ceremony. Kelvin Manning, deputy director of the Kennedy Space Center, and Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, will be part of the ceremony.
The ceremony will be live streamed on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
Hague and Gorbunov will fly to the International Space Station as commander and mission specialist, respectively, as part of a two-crew flight aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. In addition to September 26 (2:05 pm EDT or 11:35 IST), launch opportunities are available on September 27 and September 28.
According to NASA, Hague and Gorbonov will be part of the Expedition 72 crew aboard the ISS. They will be joined by NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit, and Roscosmos astronauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner. The Crew 9 mission will bring the space station’s population to seven.
Crew 9 mission has no pilot
Initially, when the SpaceX Crew 9 mission was scheduled to launch with four astronauts, Nick Hague was the assigned pilot for the mission. But when the crew changed, Hague was assigned the role of a commander for the Crew 9 mission.
Hague said, “…the focus of the effort over the last three weeks has been on what we need to do differently to be able to launch as a two-person crew, without a pilot.” is required.”
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