Sharjah 24 – AFP: A SpaceX rocket lifted off on Saturday with two passengers aboard, leaving two seats empty to return American astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for months, NASA reported.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:17 PM EDT, marking the first use of a new launch pad for a crewed mission.
“Congrats to @NASA and @SpaceX on a successful launch,” said NASA chief Bill Nelson on X. “We live in an exciting period of exploration and innovation in the stars.”
Onboard were NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. When they return from the ISS in February, they will bring back astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose stay was extended due to issues with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft.
The Starliner, making its first crewed flight when it delivered Wilmore and Williams to the ISS in June, was originally meant for an eight-day mission. However, propulsion problems led NASA to reconsider their return plans.
“This launch is a bit unique as it shifts from our original plan,” said NASA associate administrator Jim Free. “I want to thank SpaceX for their support and flexibility.”
SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, regularly conducts crew rotations to the ISS every six months. The launch of Crew-9 was postponed from mid-August to late September to assess the Starliner's reliability, and then further delayed by Hurricane Helene.
SpaceX's Dragon vessel is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Sunday at around 9:30 PM GMT. After a handover of duties, the four members of Crew-8 will return to Earth on another SpaceX craft.
In total, Hague and Gorbunov will spend about five months on the ISS, while Wilmore and Williams will have spent eight months there. Crew-9 is expected to conduct around 200 scientific experiments during their mission.
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