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A SpaceX crew has successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, preparing to bring back two astronauts who have been stranded on the station for several months. The Crew-9 mission, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, made contact with the ISS at 5:30 PM, following its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday afternoon. The mission aims to ferry NASA astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams and her fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore back to Earth after their extended stay aboard the ISS.
The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew-9 mission lifted off at 1:17 PM on Saturday, and docking was confirmed via NASA’s live stream. After successfully attaching to the ISS, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov joined their colleagues aboard the station by 7:00 PM, where they were welcomed with hugs by the existing ISS crew.
Williams and Wilmore, space veterans, have been on the ISS since June, when they were originally delivered by Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The Starliner, making its first crewed flight, was expected to return the astronauts after an eight-day mission. However, technical issues with the Starliner’s propulsion system forced NASA to extend the astronauts’ stay. Weeks of rigorous testing on the Starliner led to the decision to return it to Earth without the crew and to rely on SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission to bring the stranded astronauts back.
NASA’s deputy administrator Pam Melroy described the docking as part of a “fabulous day,” noting the significance of successfully resuming crew transport after months of uncertainty. SpaceX, the private company led by Elon Musk, has been providing regular crew rotation missions to the ISS every six months. Crew-9, originally scheduled for mid-August, had been postponed to late September to allow NASA more time to assess the reliability of the Starliner. Additional delays were caused by Hurricane Helene, which impacted Florida’s east coast.
Hague and Gorbunov, who will remain on the ISS for approximately five months, will return with Williams and Wilmore when they are brought home in February. Williams and Wilmore, meanwhile, will complete a total of eight months aboard the space station by the time they return to Earth.
Sources By Agencies
