On Saturday, the SpaceX Crew-9 spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral. There are two astronauts on board who are going to the International Space Station (ISS) and will stay there for several months. In February, this ship will return to Earth two other astronauts who were stranded on the ISS in June.
Launch with an astronaut NASA Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov on board, the launch was completed after being postponed several times (most recently due to Hurricane Helene) from the Space Launch Complex-40 platform. This is the first manned space mission launched from this place.
The expected docking time of Crew-9 at the ISS is Sunday, when it will be 11:30 p.m. in Poland.
The mission will last five months
Once they arrive at the International Space Station (ISS), Hague and Gorbunov will conduct a five-month science mission. After the mission, they will return to Earth along with a pair of American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who traveled to the ISS in June on Boeing's Starliner. They were supposed to return to Earth after a few days, but due to technical problems with the capsule, NASA decided that they would stay space until February 2025
Due to this situation, NASA limited the composition of the crew – the scientists Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson originally assigned to the mission were excluded from it. They are to be selected for the next flight to the ISS.
International Space Station (ISS)Maciej Zieliński, Adam Ziemienowicz/PAP
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH