American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to lift off Thursday for the International Space Station (ISS) as part of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission.
Liftoff is targeted for 2:05 p.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.
American astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were supposed to have joined them, but NASA cut them to make room for Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded at the ISS since June, when their Boeing Starliner spacecraft encountered problems.
Wilmore and Williams traveled to the ISS aboard the Starliner as part of the spacecraft's first crewed flight. After arriving at the station, five of the Starliner's 28 thrusters malfunctioned and helium leaks were found in the propulsion system.
NASA spent weeks running tests to diagnose the problem at its White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico and on the Starliner, which was docked at the ISS. NASA was concerned whether the spacecraft's thrusters could safely handle the reentry burn needed to return to Earth.
NASA concluded that the Starliner wasn't safe enough to transport the astronauts home and made the call to send the craft home without its crew.
Wilmore and Williams, who were supposed to remain in space for only 10 days, will now hitch a ride with Hague and Gorbunov when the crew departs the ISS in February. By then, they will have spent roughly eight months on board the space station.
Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.