SpaceX launched a rescue mission for two astronauts stuck on the International Space Station on Saturday, sending a reduced crew to bring them home but not until next year.
The capsule spun into orbit to pick up test pilots for a Boeing spacecraft that returned to Earth empty-handed earlier this month due to safety concerns. A change of riding left it to NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov to bring back Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
As NASA rotates the space station crew approximately every six months, the newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams will not return until late February. Officials said there was no way to return them early to SpaceX without disrupting other scheduled operations.
By the time they return, they will have been in space for more than eight months. They expected to be gone for just one week when they signed up for Boeing’s first astronaut flight that launched in June.
NASA has finally decided that Boeing’s Starliner is too dangerous after a series of thruster problems and a helium leak marred its journey to orbit. The space agency cut two astronauts from this SpaceX launch to make room on the return leg for Wilmore and Williams.
Williams has been promoted to commander of the space station, which will return to its normal seven-person capacity. When Hague and Gorbunov arrive this weekend, the four astronauts who have lived there since March can leave in their SpaceX capsule. Their return home was delayed for a month due to Starliner turbulence.
Hague noted before the flight that change is a constant in human space.
“There is always something changing, maybe this time it will be seen a little in the community,” he said.
Hague was tapped for the role of rescue mission commander based on his experience handling launch emergencies over the past six years. The Russian rocket failed shortly after liftoff, and the capsule carrying him and the cosmonaut ejected and escaped.
Rookie NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and veteran astronaut Stephanie Wilson were ejected from the flight after NASA opted to go with SpaceX to bring the stranded astronauts home. The space agency said both will be eligible to fly on future missions. Gorbunov remained under an exchange agreement between NASA and the Russian Space Agency.
“I don’t know exactly when my launch will be, but I know I will get there,” said Cardman from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where he participated in the live broadcast.
Hague acknowledged the challenges of launching with part of the crew and returning with two trained astronauts for another spacecraft.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is finally returning to Earth without its two US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. The mission was supposed to last eight days, with the astronauts spending about seven days on the International Space Station. Their stay has now been extended to eight months due to problems with the Starliner. Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield joins Canada Tonight for a chat.
“We have a strong challenge ahead of us,” Hague said after arriving from Houston last weekend. “We know each other and we are professionals and we step up and do what is asked of us.”
SpaceX has long been a leader in NASA’s commercial crew program, which was established as the space shuttles retired more than a decade ago. SpaceX beats Boeing to deliver astronauts to the space station in 2020 and is now up to 10 NASA flights.
Boeing has struggled with a number of problems over the years, relaunching the Starliner test plane with no one on board after the initial misfire. The Starliner that carried Wilmore and Williams into space landed safely in the New Mexico desert on September 6, and has since returned to the Kennedy Space Center. Last week, Boeing’s defense and aerospace chief was replaced.
Delayed by Hurricane Helene battering Florida, SpaceX’s latest liftoff marked the first launch of astronauts from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX took over the old Titan rocket pad nearly two decades ago and used it for satellite launches, while flying crews from Kennedy’s former Apollo and shuttle pad next door. The company wanted more flexibility as the Falcon rockets went up.