[Boeing Crew Flight Flight astronauts] Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
The agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, originally slated with four crew members, will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24. The agency will share more information about the Crew-9 complement when details are finalized.
NASA and SpaceX currently are working several items before launch, including reconfiguring seats on the Crew-9 Dragon, and adjusting the manifest to carry additional cargo, personal effects, and Dragon-specific spacesuits for Wilmore and Williams.
issman1 Member
Posts: 1141 From: UK Registered: Apr 2005
posted 08-24-2024 01:52 PM
So if Crew 9 launches with only two people, then surely one of them has to be a Russian cosmonaut?
SpaceBram Member
Posts: 17 From: Belgium Registered: Mar 2017
posted 08-24-2024 01:53 PM
My guess is that cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will stay on the crew to not mess up the rotation schedule for the Russians. Not sure about commander Zena Cardman. I think her role will be filled by Nick Hague because of his previous spaceflight experience.
brianjbradley Member
Posts: 183 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2010
posted 08-24-2024 02:47 PM
I am surprised they didn't turn to an Axiom crew over a NASA crew, so as not to shake up rotation so much and impacts to Crew-9.
Ars Technica reported the plan to is to pull Nick Hague and Stephanie Wilson. I particularly feel bad for Hague, given how his first flight didn't work out as planned and now his third.
SpaceBram Member
Posts: 17 From: Belgium Registered: Mar 2017
posted 08-25-2024 03:41 AM
Why should NASA go to Axiom to get Butch and Suni back on earth? Axiom is a private company that rents a spaceship from SpaceX to fly to the ISS. How can NASA add Butch and Suni to their mission?
issman1 Member
Posts: 1141 From: UK Registered: Apr 2005
posted 08-25-2024 06:20 AM
Hague as commander makes sense as his old Soyuz MS-10 and MS-12 crewmate, Alexei Ovichinin, would already be on the ISS.
brianjbradley Member
Posts: 183 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2010
posted 08-25-2024 08:45 AM
quote:Originally posted by SpaceBram: Why should NASA go to Axiom to get Butch and Suni back on earth?
Well Axiom goes to NASA's space station. Working together and helping each other out seems like a reasonable part of the business. Regardless, it isn't the plan. Just an idea.
cosmos-walter Member
Posts: 847 From: Salzburg, Austria Registered: Jun 2003
posted 08-26-2024 01:06 PM
A friend from Star City confirmed that Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov will fly with Crew-9.
india-mike Member
Posts: 141 From: Linnich, Northrine Westfalia, Germany Registered: Jan 2012
posted 08-26-2024 02:23 PM
Thanks for the info, Walter.
Only this combination really makes sense. Hague is the one with the experience of one spaceflight and two launches and Gorbunov is the one who flies via the agreement between NASA and Roscosmos.
Wilson as a Mission Specialist does not have the training for commander or pilot position onboard a Crew Dragon. Cardman is trained as commander and knows all the controls but she is "only a rookie."
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 08-30-2024 09:49 AM
Now official, per NASA:
Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, on the Crew-9 mission.
Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson are eligible for reassignment on a future mission.
SpaceBram Member
Posts: 17 From: Belgium Registered: Mar 2017
posted 09-02-2024 07:47 AM
Former Crew 9 commander Zena Cardman wrote a beautiful post on her Instagram regarding her removal from the crew. Excellent music choice also!
Handing the helm to Nick Hague is both heartbreaking and an honor. Nick and Alex are truly an excellent team, and they will be ready to step up. I only wish Stephanie, Nick, Alex, and I could fly together, but we choose without hesitation to be part of something much larger than ourselves. Ad astra per aspera. Go Crew 9.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-12-2024 04:40 AM
Updated crew portrait:
SpaceX Crew-9 members (from left) Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov from Roscosmos and Commander Nick Hague from NASA pose for an official crew portrait at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-12-2024 03:49 PM
NASA and SpaceX have shifted the Crew-9 launch to no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 25, to complete prelaunch preparations and ensure separation between operations.
Liftoff is targeted for 2:28 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. This is the first time a human spaceflight mission will launch from the pad.
Additional launch opportunities are available on Thursday, Sept. 26, Friday, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Sept. 28.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-18-2024 05:24 PM
The launch has again slipped a day, with NASA and SpaceX now targeting no earlier than Thursday (Sept. 26) at 2:05 p.m. EDT, with back-up dates on Friday and Saturday.
Joint teams continue to work through prelaunch operations and hardware processing ahead of the first human spaceflight launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, while also monitoring weather ahead of liftoff.
Crew arrival at Kennedy Space Center is now planned for Saturday (Sept. 21).
SpaceAngel Member
Posts: 495 From: Maryland Registered: May 2010
posted 09-18-2024 06:09 PM
Why the change of launch pads (i.e. LC-40) and splashdown zone (in the Pacific Ocean) on this mission?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-18-2024 07:22 PM
LC-39A is tied up with preparations for the Falcon Heavy launch of Europa Clipper.
As for the splashdown, SpaceX is moving all of its Dragon recoveries to the Pacific Ocean as its answer to mitigating the threat from trunk debris falling on populated areas.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-21-2024 09:13 AM
NASA video
Join us in welcoming the Crew-9 crewmates NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, to Kennedy Space Center. The crew will be spending the next few days completing final preparations before launch.
Coverage begins on Saturday (Sept. 21) at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-23-2024 05:10 PM
Update from NASA:
NASA, SpaceX, and international partner teams today completed the Flight Readiness Review for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. The earliest possible launch opportunity remains 2:05 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Sept. 26, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
However, NASA, SpaceX, and the U.S. Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron are closely monitoring potential Tropical Cyclone 9 and its approach toward the Gulf of Mexico and Florida's west coast ahead of launch.
If the launch remains on schedule for Sept. 26, launch-related events, including the agency’s prelaunch briefing, will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 25. NASA will issue its full briefings and events advisory as soon as possible.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-24-2024 03:42 PM
Update from NASA:
NASA and SpaceX teams have adjusted the next launch opportunity for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to no earlier than 1:17 p.m. EDT, Saturday, Sept. 28, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida due to expected tropical storm conditions in the area.
The change allows teams to complete a rehearsal of launch day activities Tuesday night with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, which rolled to Space Launch Complex-40 earlier in the day. Following rehearsal activities, the integrated system will move back to the hangar ahead of any potential storm activity.
Although Tropical Storm Helene is moving through the Gulf of Mexico and expected to impact the Florida panhandle, the storm system is large enough that high winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Florida’s east coast.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-24-2024 10:06 PM
NASA photo release (NASA/Keegan Barber)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 during a brief static fire test ahead of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-26-2024 08:23 PM
The 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 55 percent chance of acceptable weather conditions for a launch on Saturday (Sept. 28).
In Helene's wake, wind speeds will significantly decrease as the day progresses on Friday, but the storm will leave behind a frontal boundary that will concentrate moisture over Central Florida through the weekend. This feature, combined with deep southwesterly flow and diurnal heating, will increase shower and storm chances at the Spaceport on Saturday afternoon.
While the highest rain/lightning chances are likely later in the afternoon, scattered showers are likely to develop over the Florida peninsula and track eastwards towards the coast around T-0. This will introduce the risk of a Cumulus Cloud Rule, Flight Through Precipitation, and Surface Electric Fields Rule violations.
Overall weather conditions look very similar for both backup days as the front remains stagnant over the area, but the launch window shifting earlier will slightly improve the POV [Probability of Violation] each day.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-27-2024 04:09 PM
NASA video
Leaders from NASA and SpaceX preview the launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission, and a launch weather officer from the U.S. Space Force provides a forecast.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-28-2024 08:06 AM
NASA video
Watch the launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9, the first human spaceflight mission to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff on Saturday, Sept. 28 is set for 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 UTC).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-28-2024 08:56 AM
The custom license plates for the SpaceX Tesla Model X crew transport vehicles that bringing the Crew-9 astronauts to the launch pad read "READY4IT," a nod to a Taylor Swift song.
brianjbradley Member
Posts: 183 From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Registered: Dec 2010
posted 09-28-2024 11:39 AM
Listening to the launch coverage livestream on the NASA channel and hearing former Crew-9 commander Zena Cardman and mission specialist Stephanie Wilson providing commentary. I think that's all class. This has to be a somewhat disappointing day for them.
SpaceAngel Member
Posts: 495 From: Maryland Registered: May 2010
posted 09-28-2024 01:12 PM
Why wasn't Joe Acaba at the suit up doing the card games as he was in June?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 53229 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
Coverage of Rendezvous and Docking of the NASA/SpaceX Crew-9 Crew to the International Space Station (Hague and Gorbunov; docking is scheduled at approximately 5:30 p.m. EDT; coverage will continue through hatch opening at approximately 7:15 p.m. EDT and the crew’s welcoming remarks at approximately 7:40 p.m. EDT).
posted 08-24-2024 01:49 PM
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