NASA Revamps SpaceX’s Crew 9 Lineup To Make Room For Astronauts Stranded At ISS Due To Boeing’s Starliner Points – Boeing (NYSE:BA)

Solely two astronauts will launch on NASA’s upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 mission as a substitute of 4 to accommodate the 2 astronauts who arrived on the station aboard Boeing’s BA Starliner spacecraft, the area company mentioned on Friday.

What Occurred: NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch on the SpaceX Crew 9 mission to the Worldwide House Station (ISS) no sooner than Sept. 24 on a four-seat SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who’re presently on the station, will be part of Hague and Gorbunov on their return journey to Earth in February 2025, the company mentioned.

NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, who have been beforehand slated to fly on crew 9, will now be reassigned to a future mission, NASA added.

“Whereas we have modified crew earlier than for quite a lot of causes, downsizing crew for this flight was one other powerful choice to regulate to provided that the crew has educated as a crew of 4,” NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba mentioned.

Why It Issues: Williams and Wilmore launched into area on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

Although the 2 have been imagined to return in about eight days, technical points have been recognized with the spacecraft whereas docking delayed the return journey. NASA company subsequently determined to scrap the plan to deliver the astronauts again on the Boeing spacecraft altogether.

Starliner will now undock from the area station as early as Sept. 6 and return to Earth and not using a crew.

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