WASHINGTON, USA: The SpaceX Crew-9 mission successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, marking a significant milestone in the return plan for two astronauts stranded aboard the station.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov arrived at the ISS aboard the Dragon Freedom spacecraft, launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Saturday. The docking occurred at 5:30 pm (GMT), and the crew entered the station around 7:00 pm, warmly greeted by their colleagues.
This mission is crucial as Hague and Gorbunov will ferry back two astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose stay on the ISS was unexpectedly extended due to issues with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Initially planned as a brief eight-day mission, Williams and Wilmore ended up spending months aboard the ISS after NASA discovered propulsion system issues with the Starliner during its first crewed flight.
After weeks of testing, NASA opted to return the Starliner to Earth without its crew, leaving SpaceX’s Crew-9 to complete the astronauts’ return journey in February. Meanwhile, Hague and Gorbunov will conduct around 200 scientific experiments during their five-month stay on the ISS.
