SpaceX launches a rescue mission for astronauts stranded on the ISS

The capsule rocketed into orbit to bring test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month due to safety concerns. The race change left NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov to catch up with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Because NASA rotates space station crews roughly 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 was no 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 for just a week when they signed up for Boeing’s first astronaut flight, launched in June.

NASA ultimately decided Boeing’s Starliner was too risky after a cascade of propellant problems and helium leaks marred its journey to the orbital complex. The space agency cut two astronauts from this SpaceX launch to make room on the return leg of the Dragon capsule for Wilmore and Williams.

Wilmore and Williams watched the liftoff via a live link sent to the space station, prompting cheers of “Go Dragon!” from Williams, said NASA Deputy Program Director Dina Contella.

Williams was promoted to commander of the space station, which would soon return to its normal population of seven. Once The Hague and Gorbunov arrive on Sunday, four astronauts who have been living there since March can depart in their own SpaceX capsule. Their return was delayed a month by the turmoil of the Starliner.

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

“There is always something that changes. Maybe this time it was a little more visible to the public,” he said.

Hague was pushed into the commander 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 summit to safety.

Rookie NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and veteran spaceflight Stephanie Wilson were pulled from this flight after NASA opted to go with SpaceX to bring the stranded astronauts home. Promising a future space mission, both were at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center participating in the launch live stream. Gorbunov remained in flight under an exchange agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency.

“Every manned launch I’ve ever watched has really brought me a lot of excitement. Today was particularly unique,” ​​said a teary-eyed Cardman after the early afternoon takeoff. “It was hard not to watch that rocket take off without thinking, ‘That’s my rocket and that’s my crew.’ “

Moments before take-off, Hague paid tribute to his two colleagues left behind: “Inseparable. We did it together.” Once in orbit, he called it “a sweet ride” and thanked everyone who made it possible.

Hague previously acknowledged the challenges of launching with half a crew and returning with two trained astronauts on another spacecraft.

“We have a dynamic challenge ahead of us,” Hague said after arriving from Houston last weekend. “We know each other and we are professionals and we do what is asked of us.”

SpaceX has long been the leader of NASA’s commercial crew program, established as the space shuttles retired more than a decade ago. SpaceX beat Boeing to deliver astronauts to the space station in 2020, and now it’s up to 10 crewed flights for NASA.

Boeing has faced a variety of problems over the years, repeating a Starliner test flight with no one on board after the first one veered off course. The Starliner that dropped Wilmore and Williams into space landed safely in the New Mexico desert on September 6 and has since returned to the Kennedy Space Center. A week ago, Boeing’s defense and space chief was replaced.

Delayed by Hurricane Helene battering Florida, SpaceX’s latest liftoff marked the first for astronauts from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX took over the aging Titan rocket nearly two decades ago and used it for satellite and station cargo launches while flying crews from Kennedy’s former Apollo and the shuttle platform next door. The company wanted more flexibility as more Falcon rockets went up.

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