NASA, SpaceX delay launch date of Crew-9 mission to space station

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Published  September 18, 2024 6:48pm EDT
FOX 35 Orlando
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NASA astronauts talk Boeing Starliner troubles, ISS research

Boeing Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams discussed the troubled spacecraft, being stuck in space, and their next steps aboard the International Space Station.

ORLANDO, Fla. - NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Thursday, Sept. 26, for the launch of the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, the mission’s commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, a mission specialist, are currently in isolation as part of a pre-flight quarantine to avoid any illness before joining the Expedition 72 crew aboard the space station.

"Joint teams continue to work through prelaunch operations and hardware processing ahead of the first human spaceflight launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, while also monitoring weather ahead of liftoff," NASA tweeted. 

This will mark Hague’s third launch and second mission to the station, while Gorbunov will make his first trip to space.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague (left) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov pose for portraits in their flight suits at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX

As part of Crew-9, Hague and Gorbunov will join NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been aboard the space station since June after arriving on the Starliner spacecraft.

The two astronauts are expected to arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this weekend, where they will stay in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building until launch.

Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission to the space station with SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew is set to spend about five months on the orbiting laboratory, conducting spacewalks, research, and experiments before returning to Earth in February 2025 with Williams and Wilmore.

Backup launch dates are set for Friday, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Sept. 28.

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