SoylentNews

SpaceX Launches Mission to Bring Boeing Starliner Crew Home

upstart writes:

SpaceX launched its mission tasked with bringing back two Boeing Starliner astronauts from the International Space Station:

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:17 p.m., according to NASA. It will take the Crew-9 mission 28.5 hours to dock at the ISS.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon left Earth with two empty seats for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been docked at the ISS since June. The pair was the first to perform Boeing's first crewed mission to space.

[...] NASA said the Crew-9 mission has safely reached orbit and the nosecone has opened.

SpaceX Launches Rescue Mission for NASA Astronauts Stuck in Space Until Next Year

upstart writes:

SpaceX launches rescue mission for NASA astronauts stuck in space until next year:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.

[...] Since 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.

By the time they return, the pair will have logged more than eight months in space. They expected to be gone just a week when they signed up for Boeing's first astronaut flight that launched in June.

[...] Williams has since been promoted to commander of the space station, which will soon be back to its normal population of seven. Once Hague and Gorbunov arrive this weekend, four astronauts living there since March can leave in their own SpaceX capsule. Their homecoming was delayed a month by Starliner's turmoil.

Hague noted before the flight that change is the one constant in human spaceflight.

"There's always something that is changing. Maybe this time it's been a little more visible to the public," he said.

Hague was thrust into the commander's job for the rescue mission based on his experience and handling of a launch emergency six years ago. The Russian rocket failed shortly after liftoff, and the capsule carrying him and a cosmonaut catapulted off the top to safety.

Rookie NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and veteran space flier Stephanie Wilson were pulled from this flight after NASA opted to go with SpaceX to bring the stuck astronauts home. The space agency said both would be eligible to fly on future missions. Gorbunov remained under an exchange agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency.

[...] SpaceX has long been the leader in NASA's commercial crew program, established as the space shuttles were retiring more than a decade ago. SpaceX beat Boeing in delivering astronauts to the space station in 2020 and it's now up to 10 crew flights for NASA.

[...] Delayed by Hurricane Helene pounding Florida, the latest SpaceX liftoff marked the first for astronauts from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX took over the old Titan rocket pad nearly two decades ago and used it for satellite launches, while flying crews from Kennedy's former Apollo and shuttle pad next door. The company wanted more flexibility as more Falcon rockets soared.

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2