(CNN) – A SpaceX mission has taken off, intended to merge the Boeing Starliner with the spacecraft that will bring astronauts home. NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have spent 100 days on the International Space Station longer than expected.
The SpaceX mission, Crew-9, lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida this Saturday at 1:17 p.m.
The space agency delayed Thursday's launch attempt as Hurricane Helen threatened Florida and other parts of the southeastern United States. Once the danger was out of the way, crews reorganized everything on the launch pad.
Unlike other regular missions that carry astronauts to the space station under NASA's Commercial Crew Program, of which SpaceX has already launched eight, the outgoing leg of this mission has only two crew members in place of four: NASA astronaut Nick Hack and Roscosmos astronaut Alexander. Korbunov.
The other two seats are vacant, reserved for Williams and Willmore on the shuttle's return flight in 2025. The structure is part of a temporary plan that NASA decided to implement in late August after the space agency deemed it too dangerous for the Starliner capsule. To return with the crew.
Williams and Wilmore traveled aboard Starliner to the International Space Station in early June for what was expected to be a week-long test flight.
Hack and Korbunov were attached inside SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, known as Freedom, with nine massive engines on its base to propel 1.2 million pounds (544,300 kilograms). Airborne Rocket System.
After about two and a half minutes, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket stopped firing and separated from the second stage of the rocket. The second part ignited its own engine, propelling the Crew Dragon capsule to 17,000 miles per hour (27,360 kilometers per hour), or 22 times the speed of sound.
When the crew reaches top speed, the rocket's first stage will be guided back and land on a pad in Florida so that SpaceX can modify and reuse the vehicle.
Once the Crew Dragon capsule reaches orbital velocity, the spacecraft Falcon 9 will separate from the second stage and use orbital thrusters to gradually adjust its position so that it docks with the International Space Station, which will occur around 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Williams and Wilmore saw their Boeing-built capsule return from the station without them on September 6.
Engineers worked for months to understand the problems with helium leaks and propulsion failures that plagued Starliner's journey to the space station, and NASA finally announced that there were too many uncertainties and risks to trust the vehicle with the journey. It's unclear when Boeing's Starliner will fly again.
NASA has been in the same situation for four years as the sole provider of the space agency's commercial fleet, which is designed to outsource the mission of manned spaceflight. (Boeing and SpaceX each won contracts in 2014, and SpaceX began flying regular missions in 2020, while Boeing struggled to push development of the Starliner to the finish line.)
To bring Williams and Wilmore home, NASA turned to SpaceX, choosing to remove two previously appointed members of its Crew-9 crew to make room for the Starliner test pilots.
Space Agency Advertising NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson and Gina Cartman will be the ejected members of the mission at the end of August. Cartman was scheduled to make his first space mission and was expected to be the commander of the Crew-9 mission.
Russian cosmonaut Korbunov, who earned his spot through a ride-sharing agreement signed between NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, was on board. Cartman handed over the duties of commander – the highest position on a space mission – to Hack, who had already been named the pilot of Crew-9.
“Handing over the leadership to Hack is both heartbreaking and an honor. “Nick and Alex are truly a great team and will be ready to move forward,” Cartman said in a post. Social platformFormerly Twitter, after the announcement.
“Me (Wilson), Nick, Alex and I would love to fly together, but we reluctantly chose to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves.” Ad Astra to Aspera. Let's go Crew 9.”
Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore were integrated into daily life on the space station. Both assumed roles as full-time crew members from light experimental work schedules, with Williams assuming the role of commander of the orbiting laboratory.
They will be joined by Korbunov and Hague after docking with the space station, scheduled for this Sunday.
Asked if he had trouble adjusting to the prospect of waiting months to return home, Wilmore said during a Sept. 13 press conference from the space station: “I'm not going to worry about it. I mean, there's no benefit to it. So my transition — maybe it's not immediate — but it's It was very close.
Williams said she misses her family and is disappointed to miss some family events this fall and winter, but this is my happy place. I love being here in space. It's funny. You know, every day you do the work, in quotes, you can do it in a different way. You can do it on the side, so it adds a different perspective.
