SpaceX on Saturday launched a Falcon rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying a crew of two to deliver the Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, which will return astronauts stranded aboard a disabled Boeing Starliner next year.
In June, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched on Starliner, but thruster problems and a helium leak made their intended eight-day mission too dangerous, so the space agency announced decided to return the astronauts to Earth in a capsule. .
The crewless Starliner eventually landed in New Mexico earlier this month, but Wilmore and Williams remained on the space station.
NASA astronaut Nick Haig and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov launched from Kennedy Space Center on Saturday's mission, leaving two empty seats on Dragon, which will bring Wilmore and Williams home in February.
Boeing Starliner docks from space station, crew stays behind and returns to Earth unmanned
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Saturday from Launch Pad 40 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying a crew of two. (AP Photo/John Rau)
Two astronauts were removed from the SpaceX mission to make room for Wilmore and Williams.
When Haag and Gorbunov arrive at the space station Sunday afternoon, four other astronauts will be returning to Earth in a SpaceX capsule after a month-long delay due to problems with Starliner.
“Something is always changing,” Haag said before the start of the evolving space mission. “Maybe this time it caught the public's eye a little more.”
NASA astronaut Nick Haig (right) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov leave the Operations and Test Building on Saturday to head to Launch Pad 40 at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O’Mearaji)
“Human spaceflight” is “complex and dynamic,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said at a press conference after Saturday's launch.
“What a wonderful day today was,” she said. “We only have two crew members instead of four. Crew changes are no small thing.”
She added: “It was the right thing to do.”
NASA astronauts say Starliner crew members are likely to change their exercise habits during extended stays on the ISS
Melroy said the two astronauts removed from the mission were there to provide moral support to Haig and Gorbunov during the launch.
NASA astronauts and Expedition 71 Expedition Flight Engineers Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore make pizza in the International Space Station's galley inside the Unity module on September 9. (NASA via AP)
“The International Space Station is incredible. It's a truly special place,” she said, adding, “This place allows people to 'see beyond gravity' and build technology to explore the entire solar system. I can do that.''
Once Hague and Gorbunov arrive at the space station, they will carry out hundreds of “exciting experiments,” including studying human cells and blood clotting.
After an “incredibly smooth” launch, Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said: “We are pleased to report that Nick and Alexander are safely in orbit.” , said it is scheduled to land on the space station around 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. .
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, left, and NASA astronaut Nick Haig sit in a SpaceX capsule en route to the International Space Station after liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday. move within. (NASA via AP)
“The crew is currently taking off their suits,” Hutcherson said, adding that Gorbunov and Hague will rest and eat inside the capsule before preparing to dock.
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A welcome ceremony will be held after docking at the ISS.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
