Astronauts stranded on the International Space Station since June I felt relieved Rescuers are expected to be picked up from the SpaceX capsule on Sunday.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched on Saturday, carrying NASA astronaut Nick Haig and Russian Space Agency's Alexander Gorbunov on a rescue mission to help bring Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams home.
“I've laughed and cried in the last 10 minutes, but I know it's going to be a great road trip.”
Both companies have been stranded since the Boeing Starliner capsule suffered a thruster failure and helium leak, and NASA is seeking alternatives to SpaceX due to safety concerns. It was Starliner's first test flight with a crew on board, but it returned to Earth empty.
The Dragon capsule docked at the space station 425 miles above Botswana.
Nine astronauts greeted SpaceX visitors at the space station, which normally only accommodates seven people. Four of them are now able to return to Earth in the Dragon space capsule.
Wilmore and Williams will have to wait until February to return. They were originally scheduled to stay on the space station for just one week.
“I just want to say welcome to our new guys,” Williams said.
“As much as I saw everyone's smiling faces through the hatch and laughed and cried in the last 10 minutes, I'm sure it's going to be an amazing expedition,” Haig said.
The seven people on the space station, excluding Wilmore and Williams, have been on the space station since March due to the Boeing accident in June.
Boeing issued a short statement after NASA announced in August that SpaceX would undertake the rescue mission.
“We remain focused first and foremost on the safety of our crew and spacecraft. We are executing our mission in accordance with NASA decisions and are preparing our spacecraft for a safe and uncrewed return,” the company said in a statement. ” said in X. platform.
Critics are calling on lawmakers to reconsider NASA's extremely expensive mission.
Do you like Blaze News? Avoid censorship and sign up for our newsletter to get articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Please register here!
