SpaceX Crew-9 was launched on 28 September, 2024, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with Falcon 9 rocket.
Instead of four astronauts – Nick Hague, Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov from Roscosmos, Stephanie Wilson and Zena Cardman – it had two empty seats.
Zena and Stephanie were dropped to make room for the return of two Starliner astronauts stranded in the International Space Station.– Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
SpaceX Crew-9 docked on ISS on 29 September, 2024, and were welcome by the nine crew on board the space station.
Sunita and Butch will continue with the work that Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson would have done in the ISS.
Together with Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, they will return to Earth with the same Crew Dragon capsule in February, 2025.
The second stage of Falcon 9 rocket that launched them did not quite perform as expected and was disposed in the ocean outside the target area.
SpaceX has suspended any further launch with Falcon 9 rocket until they can understand the slight anomaly in its flight.
STARLINER RETURNED UNCREWED FROM ISS
Boeing Starliner successfully returned to Earth uncrewed on 7 September, 2024.
NASA and Boeing took the decision after the spacecraft suffered Helium leaks and malfunction of five of its 27 thrusters.
It had a successful first crewed test flight with two astronauts, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, to the ISS after several delays on 5 June, 2024.
They were supposed to return after eight days.
NASA, on “abundance of caution,” decided to return the spacecraft to Earth uncrewed.
Butch and Suni will hang on in the ISS till February, 2025, and return with a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS.
NASA made the announcement on 24 August, 2024.
This meant that both astronauts will be stuck in space for six more months.
Butch and Suni have each been to space two times before.
As veterans, they will keep busy by assisting the other astronauts in the ISS with scientific experiments.
They seem mentally prepared, and they also have access to phone and video calls and email from family and friends from Earth.
They have enough food, water and other essential items in ISS.
