What you need to know about Nasa's SpaceX Crew 9 ‘rescue mission’
Nasa has delayed the launch of its upcoming SpaceX ‘rescue mission’ to the International Space Station (ISS), which will bring back two stranded astronauts.
The launch of the Crew-9 mission was scheduled for 26 September, but has been pushed back to 28 September, after hurricane warnings were issued in Florida – the site of the launch – as a result of Tropical Storm Helene.
The Dragon spacecraft is due to take Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the ISS, where they will remain until February 2025.
When they return, they will have two additional passengers – Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams – who were left stranded there in earlier this year when the spacecraft they were due to return on was deemed too unsafe.
How did Crew 9 become a rescue mission?
In June, Wilmore and Williams boarded the Boeing Starliner spacecraft to the ISS. After years of delays, technical glitches and supply chain mishaps, it was meant to be a successful final test before Nasa could certify Starliner for routine flights.
Wilmore and Williams arrived on 6 June and were due to stay at the ISS for about eight days, but Starliner's propulsion system malfunctioned and Nasa deemed the troublesome thrusters unsafe for the return journey – leaving the pair without a ride home.
In August, it was announced that the duo would instead be brought home in Crew Dragon capsule manufactured by SpaceX next year, the latest humiliation for Boeing at the hands of Elon Musk's dominant space company.
Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said at the time: “Space flight is risky, even at its safest and even at its most routine, and a test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine, and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety."
Why has the launch been delayed?
The Crew-9 mission was originally set to be launched no earlier than 18 August, but was pushed back a month to allow more time for the analysis of issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which remains docked at the station.
On Tuesday, the launch was pushed back again, this time until 28 September, due to Tropical Storm Helene.
The storm is moving through the Gulf of Mexico and expected to mainly impact the northwest of Florida, but it could affect weather in Cape Canaveral, where the Dragon will launch.
The storm is big enough that it could mean high winds and heavy rain at the launch site.
What will happen next?
The two Nasa astronauts will come back to Earth on board the Dragon craft with a planned return date of February 2025.
By that point, although they will have spent eight months in space, both astronauts have said they are ‘grateful’ for the extra time on board the ISS.
Wilmore said in September: “We are pushing the edges of the envelope in everything that we do. And it is not easy. It's not an easy thing to do, but that's not why we do it. Maybe we do it because it's hard.”
Williams added: “We're both navy. We've both been on deployments. We’re not surprised when deployments get changed.”
In the meantime, the two will continue their work formally as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through to February 2025.
