NASA Announces Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov to Join SpaceX Crew-9 Mission, Targeting 24 September 2024
NASA took to the social media platform X and updated through a post that, their SpaceX Crew9 mission will launch two crew members to the International Space Station, no earlier than 24 September 2024. Along with it, NASA has also announced certain changes to the Crew-9. NASA also aims to return Starliner uncrewed.
Our @SpaceX #Crew9 mission will launch two crew members to the @Space_Station no earlier than Sept. 24, following our decision to return #Starliner uncrewed. Learn more about @AstroHague, Aleksandr Gorbunov, and the latest Crew-9 updates: https://t.co/6bsrRppNYJ pic.twitter.com/A7x2Krd9Mf
— NASA (@NASA) August 30, 2024
Nick Hague, a NASA astronaut and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will fly to the International Space Station no earlier than 24 September 2024. They will fly on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission as commander and mission specialist respectively. It will be a two-crew member flight aboard a SpaceX dragon.
On the other hand, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, who were previously announced as crewmates, would now be reassigned to a future mission.
The new decisions have been formulated according to NASA’s decision to bring back the Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed. On the other hand, NASA aims on sending Crew-9 with two unoccupied seats, as they want NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2024. Both of them earlier launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June.
NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba decided to fly to Hague. He had to find a common ground between flying a NASA crew member with previous spaceflight experience to command the flight. On the other hand, NASA was also supposed to maintain an integrated crew with a Roscosmos cosmonaut with capabilities of operating their critical systems for continued, safe station operations.
