SpaceX ‘Freedom’ capsule to rescue Starliner crew from space station reaches orbit

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully reached orbit on Sunday (AEST) with an unusually small crew heading to the International Space Station (ISS).

The capsule, named “Freedom”, carried just one NASA astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut rather than the usual four crew members, leaving two seats open for Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, who have been stuck on the space station since Boeing’s Starliner was deemed unfit to return them to Earth.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov (left) and NASA astronaut Nick Hague wave as they leave the Operations and Checkout Building at Cape Canaveral, Florida, as they prepare for their mission to the International Space Station.Credit: AP

If the mission is successful, it will be a triumphant moment for SpaceX, whose Dragon capsule has become NASA’s sole means of delivering astronauts to the ISS.

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the capsule took off on Saturday (US time) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA and SpaceX were cleared for launch after a Tuesday test, although the launch was delayed by two days when Hurricane Helene reached the Gulf of Mexico.

The mission, known as Crew-9, is staffed by NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. NASA officials had considered including extra weight, known as ballast, to account for the smaller crew, but ultimately decided it wasn’t needed, according to a NASA spokesman.

While we’re here … NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore make pizza aboard the International Space Station. Items are attached to the galley using tape and velcro to keep them from flying away in the micro-gravity environment.Credit: AP

Wilmore and Williams have been on the ISS since early June, when they arrived on the first crewed mission of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. They were to return on the Starliner after about a week, but NASA extended their stay to study problems – failing thrusters and small helium leaks – that had emerged on the experimental spacecraft on the way to the ISS.

NASA ultimately concluded it didn’t have enough confidence in Boeing’s system to use it for the return mission, turning to SpaceX to bring Wilmore and Williams home. A return on the Starliner would entail “too much risk for the crew”, said NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich.

The decision meant Williams’ and Wilmore’s stay on the space station was extended to nearly eight months. They are expected to return to Earth in February with Hague and Gorbunov.

The Starliner returned to Earth without a crew in early September, a setback for Boeing and for US officials desperate to have more options for accessing the space station.

Boeing’s problems underscored NASA’s dependence on the Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX has been NASA’s primary means of delivering astronauts to the ISS since 2020.

The addition of Hague and Gorbunov means there will be 11 people aboard the space station.

Hague, 49, is a Kansas native who became an aeronautical engineer and air force officer before being selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and later transferring to the US Space Force.

His first mission to the ISS in 2018 suffered a catastrophic rocket-booster failure that led to an abort shortly after launch. A subsequent flight on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft was successful, and he served as flight engineer on the ISS. Hague spent 203 days aboard the ISS and conducted three spacewalks.

Gorbunov, 34, was an officer in Russia’s armed forces and is an engineer with a specialty in operating and repairing aircraft and their engines, according to NASA. Before being selected as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked on transport aircraft with a Russian aerospace company. The Crew-9 mission is his first trip to space.

He and Hague are expected to spend about five months conducting scientific research and will don spacesuits for external maintenance of the ISS. In all, the crew is expected to conduct more than 200 experiments and technology demonstrations, according to NASA.

Washington Post

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