SpaceX launches rescue mission for NASA astronauts stuck in space

SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home – but not until next year.

The SpaceX mission, called Crew-9, took off on Saturday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov on board.

Two seats on the spacecraft were left for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the ISS for more than 100 days longer than expected after a fault was found on their Boeing Starliner.

NASA previously delayed the SpaceX launch attempt from Thursday, rolling the spacecraft back into its hangar as Hurricane Helene threatened Florida and other parts of the southeastern United States.

Mission teams reset everything at the launchpad on Friday after the danger had passed.

Williams and Wilmore rode the Starliner to the International Space Station in early June for what was expected to be about a weeklong test flight.

Earlier this month, the astronauts had to watch as the capsule they had arrived on returned to Earth without them.

Engineers had worked for months to understand issues with helium leaks and thruster outages that had plagued the Starliner’s journey to the space station, and NASA ultimately declared too many uncertainties and risks existed to trust the vehicle to transport crew on its return trip.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. / Credit: AP

It is not clear when Boeing’s Starliner might fly again.

Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore have folded into daily life on the space station.

The duo transitioned from a lighter test mission schedule to taking on roles as full-time crew members, with Williams assuming the role of commander at the orbiting laboratory.

Gorbunov and Hague will join them after docking with the space station.

When asked if he had trouble adjusting to the prospect of waiting months longer to get home, Wilmore said during a September 13 news briefing from the space station: “I’m not gonna fret over it. I mean, there’s no benefit to it at all. So my transition was – maybe it wasn’t instantaneous – but it was pretty close.”

Williams said that she missed her family and was disappointed to miss some family events this fall and winter, but she added: “This is my happy place. I love being up here in space.

“It’s just fun. You know, every day you do something that’s work, quote, unquote, you can do it upside down. You can do it sideways, so it adds a little different perspective.”