SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two astronauts trapped on the International Space Station on Saturday and sent a downsized crew to bring them home, but not until next year.
The capsule blasted off into space to pick up the test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month due to safety concerns. The switch to rides left it to NASA’s Nick Haag and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov to bring back Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
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Because the space station crew is rotated by NASA about every six months, this newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams won’t return until late February. Officials said there was no way to return them to SpaceX sooner without interrupting other planned missions.
By the time they return, the pair will have logged more than eight months in space. They expected to be away for only a week when they signed up for Boeing’s first astronaut flight, which launched in June.
NASA ultimately decided that Boeing’s Starliner was too risky after a series of thruster problems and helium leaks marred the journey to the orbiting complex. The space agency removed two astronauts from this SpaceX launch to make room for Wilmore and Williams on the return trip.
Williams has now been promoted to commander of the space station, which will soon return to its normal population of seven. Once The Hague and Gorbunov arrive this weekend, four astronauts who have lived there since March can leave in their own SpaceX capsule. Their homecoming was delayed for a month due to Starliner’s unrest.
Haag noted before the flight that change is the only constant in human spaceflight.
There is always something that changes. Maybe this time it will be a little more visible to the public, he said.
Hague was placed in the position of rescue mission commander based on his experience and handling of a launch emergency six years ago. The Russian rocket failed shortly after launch and the capsule carrying it and a cosmonaut was catapulted from the summit to a safe location.
Rookie NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and veteran space flier Stephanie Wilson were taken off this flight after NASA opted to go with SpaceX to bring the trapped astronauts home. The space agency said both would 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 into space will be, but I know I will get there,” Cardman said from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where she participated in the livestream of the launch. Wilson joined her there for the early afternoon launch. .
Just before the launch, The Hague paid tribute to his two colleagues left behind: Unbreakable. We did it together. Once in orbit, he called it a fun ride” and thanked everyone who made it possible.
The Hague previously acknowledged the challenges of launching with half a crew and returning with two astronauts trained on another spacecraft.
We have a dynamic challenge ahead of us, Den Haag 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 the leader in NASA’s commercial crew program, which was established when the space shuttles were retired more than a decade ago. SpaceX beat Boeing in delivering astronauts to the space station in 2020 and it is now up to 10 crew flights for NASA.
Boeing has struggled with several issues over the years, repeating a Starliner test flight without anyone on board after the first went off course. The Starliner that left Wilmore and Williams in space landed without incident in the New Mexico desert on September 6 and has since returned to the Kennedy Space Center. A week ago, Boeing’s head of Defense and Space was replaced.
Delayed by Hurricane Helene as it pounded Florida, SpaceX’s latest launch was the first for astronauts from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX took over the old Titan rocket platform nearly two decades ago and used it for satellite launches, with crews flying from Kennedy’s former Apollo and shuttle platform next door. The company wanted more flexibility as more Falcon rockets took to the skies.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First publication: September 28, 2024 | 11:56 PM IST