NASA cleared the next astronaut flight to the International Space Station for launch on Friday (September 27). The weekend liftoff will help send two Boeing Starliner astronauts home and break into SpaceX’s new launch pad.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch two Crew-9 astronauts, NASA veteran Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexandr Gorbunov, to the ISS on Saturday, September 28, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Takeoff is set to 1 time. 17:00 EDT (1517 GMT).
“We’re moving toward launch and we’ll get to go time tomorrow at 1:17 p.m.,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said during a press briefing Friday evening. “We are standing upright on the pad, and our next major activity is to load the cargo here this afternoon and get it ready for flight.” The Crew-9 launch can be watched live starting at 9:10 AM EDT (1310 GMT) on Space.com, powered by NASA and SpaceX. You can also watch the launch. NASA’s YouTubeNASA+ streaming channel and SpaceX’s X Page.
SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission is a departure from NASA’s typical ISS crew rotation flights in several ways.
First, there is crew size.
half dragon crew
For the first time since a test flight in May 2020, SpaceX will launch just two astronauts to the ISS aboard its Dragon spacecraft. That’s because NASA, original commander Zena Cardman and three-time shuttle flier Stephanie Wilson, were hired to make room for the two astronauts who have been stuck on the ISS since the Boeing Starliner capsule returned to Earth without them. Wilson and two other crew members were pulled from the plane. September 7th.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched to the space station in June on the first manned test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. However, concerns about the Starliner’s thruster system led NASA to keep Wilmore and Williams on the ISS and return the Starliner home unmanned. The original eight-day mission turned into an eight-month spaceflight. This month, Williams took command of the base’s current Expedition 72 crew, and she and Wilmore await their return home aboard Crew-9’s Dragon capsule in February 2025.
To accommodate the return of the Starliner astronauts, Cardman and Wilson had to give up their positions and set aside years of training for the Crew-9 flight, which Haig now commands. NASA is organizing additional cargo and supplies into two empty Crew-9 seats, including a new Dragon spacesuit for Wilmore (one for Williams is already aboard the ISS).
“I want you to know that we’re going to find a place for them to fly,” Ken Bowersox, NASA’s deputy administrator for space operations and a former astronaut, said of Cardman and Wilson. “And I really appreciate how hard it is to give up on a mission and wait a little longer.”
What’s new about the Crew-9 flight is the launch pad chosen by SpaceX.
relevant: Astronauts, SpaceX’s Crew-9 capsule arrive at launch site (pictured)
SpaceX’s new astronaut pad
To date, SpaceX has launched all of its astronaut missions for NASA from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A, which hosted Apollo and space shuttle launches before SpaceX leased it from the U.S. agency. But SpaceX also launches unmanned missions from its Space Launch Complex-40 pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, located near Kennedy Space Center.
The pad was previously used by the U.S. Air Force for Titan rocket launches from 1965 to 2005. According to Cape Canaveral Space Museum. In 1996, it was used to launch the Titan 3C rocket carrying the Manned Orbiting Laboratory military space station mockup and the Gemini capsule (uncrewed). According to NASA.
The newly upgraded SLC-40 pad for astronaut launches now boasts a crew access tower and arms, as well as a chute-based pad escape system that can eject the crew in case of danger, and should operate much like SpaceX’s Pad 39A site. This also means more flexibility for SpaceX.
“We think operating Pad 40 gives us a lot of unique capabilities that we can leverage,” Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of manufacturing and flight reliability, told reporters.
Having a second crew-capable launch pad would free up space for SpaceX to handle complex launches from both Florida launch sites. The company is currently preparing Pad 39A for launch of its triple-booster Falcon Heavy rocket on NASA’s flagship Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa on October 10. Without a second crew certification pad, SpaceX would not be able to fly both missions, Gerstenmaier said. said.
relevant: How to watch NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronaut launch
“It also allows us to place two crewed missions very close together back-to-back and see where we are if needed,” he added. “That’s why I think it would be nice to have a backup feature, even if something goes wrong with the pads, if there’s a little damage to the pads or if we have to take them down for maintenance.”
SpaceX and NASA had previously targeted September 26 to launch the Crew-9 mission, but postponed it to September 28 due to bad weather from Hurricane Helen, which made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast, the mission’s original launch. afternoon. NASA officials said the rainy fallout from the storm on Florida’s Space Coast (on the other side of the state) was tropical storm-force winds and rain.
SpaceX had to clean and repaint parts of its Dragon capsule after winds blew soot after conducting standard engine tests on the capsule earlier this week. These cleanings helped ensure the capsule’s radiators and solar arrays functioned properly during flight, NASA said.
Space Force weather officials are currently predicting a 55% chance of good weather on Saturday for Crew-9’s launch. These conditions will improve to 60% “run” on backup day Sunday (September 29). NASA officials said another backup launch date is possible on Monday (September 30) if needed.
Editor’s note: Join Space.com early on Saturday, September 28th to watch SpaceX’s Crew-9 astronaut launch for NASA. The launch webcast will begin at 9:10 AM EDT (1310 GMT). A post-launch press conference is scheduled for 3 PM EDT (1900 GMT).
