SpaceX Crew-9 mission to ‘save’ Sunita Williams near ISS, likely to dock in a few hours. today news

SpaceX launched a reduced two-man crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, carrying supplies and two empty seats for Starliner astronauts waiting to return home in February after an unplanned eight-and-a-half-month stay in orbit. The spacecraft will be docked at the International Space Station around 3:30 a.m. Monday.

“A Falcon rocket carrying two astronauts and two empty seats took off from Florida on Saturday to return Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to Earth. Wilmore and Williams have been stranded in space since June due to problems with the Boeing Starliner ,” said a post on CBS News

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According to CBS News, the launch was delayed two days due to high winds, rain and clouds associated with Hurricane Helene. Finally, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited and lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Pad 40 at 1:17 p.m. EDT, following a north-easterly trajectory directly aligned with the ISS’s orbital plane.

Inside Crew Dragon “Freedom,” Commander Nick Hague, a veteran NASA astronaut, monitored the automated ascent along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, who was on his first flight.

Typically, Crew Dragons launch with four crew members; However, two Crew 9 astronauts – Stephanie Wilson and Zeena Cardman – were removed from the mission in August to accommodate seats for Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita Williams when Crew Dragon returned to Earth in February.

This mission marked the first piloted space flight from Pad 40 and SpaceX’s inaugural launch from a Space Force station, preceded by 14 Crew Dragon missions conducted from historic Pad 39A at nearby Kennedy Space Center.

After propelling the Falcon 9 through the dense lower atmosphere, the first stage, which was on its second flight, successfully returned to the Space Force station 7 minutes and 40 seconds after launch, CBS reported.

Four and a half minutes later, Crew Dragon was released to autonomously move toward the ISS, beginning a 28-hour rendezvous. If everything goes as per plan, the spacecraft will reach the station’s forward port at 5.30 pm on Sunday.

Awaiting Hague and Gorbunov’s arrival are Wilmore and Williams, who currently serves as ISS commander, as well as Soyuz MS-26/72S commanders Alexei Ovchinin, Ivan Wagner and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who served on 11 It was launched in September, CBS News reported.

Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore and Williams will replace Crew 8 commanders Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Janet Epps and astronaut Alexander Grebenkin, who launched on March 3 and are scheduled to return to Earth around October 7 after a 217-day stay. Are. In space.

In addition to ferrying Hague and Gorbunov to the station, Crew Dragon was loaded with clothing and supplies for Wilmore and Williams, who were launched during Starliner’s first crewed test flight on June 5, CBS reports.

Initially, the mission was expected to last eight to ten days. However, various helium leaks in Starliner’s propulsion system, as well as low thrust in the five maneuvering jets, led NASA to make the decision to bring the spacecraft down without its crew earlier this month.

As a result, NASA opted to launch Crew 9 Dragon with only two members of its original crew, allowing the ship to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth at the end of its mission in February, according to CBS News. Went. By the time they land aboard the Crew 9 capsule around February 22, they will have spent more than 262 days in space.

Some have described the Crew Dragon flight as a “rescue” mission. However, Wilmore and Williams always have a way to get home, first via their spacecraft, then aboard Crew 8 Dragon, and after Sunday’s docking, via Crew 9 Dragon. NASA considered this option to be the least disruptive to the ISS crew rotation schedule.

During a press conference after the launch, Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management for SpaceX, expressed her support, saying, “At SpaceX, we are all rooting for our NASA and our Boeing friends to have a successful CFT (Cray Flight Test) mission.” Were cheering.”

He added, “It’s exciting to bring new human spaceflight capabilities, but these early test flights always come with lessons learned. We still learn something every time we fly. We have our share of hardware challenges “

The change from a four-man crew to only two presented a unique challenge for Hague and Gorbunov, as well as Wilmore and Williams, who were not trained to fly on Crew Dragon.

“We’re going to launch as a two-person crew, and then we’re going to land as a four-person crew,” Hague said. “And one of the unique challenges of this is how do we integrate the other two crew members into Dragon operations when they have had so little Dragon training prior to launch?”

Hague said the ground teams have been instrumental in preparing both crews, “The teams on the ground have not only helped us prepare, but they have already started to help Butch and Suni understand what it’s like.” Given what they need. Working inside Dragon will be the top priority, (helping them understand) what they need to do to work as part of the Crew 9 crew. “

A Space Force colonel, Hague is a former F-16 test pilot and combat veteran, having logged 203 days in space on a previous mission. His extensive experience was likely a key factor in NASA’s decision to assign him the role of commander for this modified mission, CBS News reports.

Gorbunov retained his seat in Crew 9 Dragon under a contract between NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos. This arrangement ensures that Russian Soyuz spacecraft carry one NASA astronaut on each flight to the ISS, while one astronaut aboard each four-seat Crew Dragon launch.

This strategy guarantees that at least one crew member from each country is present on the ISS, even in the event of an emergency requiring an unplanned return to Earth. While Gorbunov is not trained to pilot Crew Dragon, he will occupy the pilot’s seat during the launch to assist Hague.

“Essentially, we’re flying without a pilot, and so basically, the commander is responsible for keeping the crew safe, keeping the vehicle safe, and making sure we accomplish the mission,” Hague said. ” “And so those responsibilities have not changed.”

“Alex is going to work to support me during all the dynamic phases of flight and provide me with an extra set of eyes, an extra set of hands that I will need and that I would take advantage of if there was a pilot sitting next to me. .So in that way, it’s not much different,” he said. (ANI)