Elon Musk-backed SpaceX has just launched its latest mission to the International Space Station, but there is a lot more riding on its success this time. That’s because the Crew Dragon capsule that just launched into orbit will be used to bring back two astronauts that Boeing stranded in space earlier this year.
SpaceX flights to the ISS usually take off with four astronauts onboard ready to spend the next six months onboard the floating laboratory. However, this mission was sent into orbit with just two crew members so that there is space on its return for Boeing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to hitch a ride home.
Wilmore and Williams launched to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner craft way back in June, expecting to initially spend just eight days in orbit. However, leaks uncovered on the craft and other issues meant that NASA pulled the plug on their return to Earth, opting to instead bring the capsule back empty to avoid any unnecessary risk.
Instead of coming back on Starliner, it was announced that Wilmore and Williams would be flown back to Terra Firma in 2025 on a SpaceX mission, reports the Associated Press. The move will leave the pair floating in space for eight months instead of eight days.
To do this, SpaceX had to bump two astronauts from its planned September launch so that there was space in the Crew Dragon capsule for Wilmore and Williams. Thankfully, the launch of the rescue mission went off without a hitch this weekend, as the AP reports:
The capsule rocketed into orbit to fetch the test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month because of safety concerns. The switch in rides left it to NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov to retrieve Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
Because NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams won’t return until late February. Officials said there wasn’t a way to bring them back earlier on SpaceX without interrupting other scheduled missions.
In order to make space for Wilmore and Williams on its return, astronauts Stephanie Wilson and Zena Cardman were left behind on this mission, reports CNN. Cardman was initially slated to be commander of the launch, which would have marked her first trip to space. Instead, the role was passed on to Hague, who had previously been named pilot for the Crew-9 mission:
“Handing the helm to (Hague) is both heartbreaking and an honor. Nick and Alex are truly an excellent team, and they will be ready to step up,” Cardman said in a post on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, after the announcement.
“I only wish (Wilson), Nick, Alex, and I could fly together, but we choose without hesitation to be part of something much larger than ourselves. Ad astra per aspera. Go Crew 9.”
The SpaceX mission docked with the ISS yesterday afternoon, after which point Hague and Gorbunov joined the station’s current crew of Wilmore, Williams, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and Don Pettit.
Despite now being named commander of the ISS, Williams was originally only meant to be in space for a little over a week. Issues with Starliner’s thrusters meant that her and Wilmore were unable to fly back to Earth in the ship, which landed back on Terra Firma empty in August.