SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission launches this week, turning into a rescue mission to bring ‘stranded’ Sunita Williams home from space.

The NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission has been tasked to bring back Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from space. Here's all you need to know about it.

This week, NASA is launching a rescue mission to the International Space Station (ISS). On Thursday, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will head to the ISS on SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission. Originally, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were set to join, but they were replaced by Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who are currently stranded on the ISS due to issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth with Crew-9 in February 2025, after spending about eight months in space.

Crew 9 mission has no pilot

Initially, when the SpaceX Crew 9 mission was supposed to launch with four astronauts, Nick Hague was the pilot assigned to the mission. But when the crew changed, Hague was assigned the role of a commander to the Crew 9 mission.

"...the focus of effort over the last three weeks is what do we need to do differently to be able to launch as a crew of two, as a crew without a pilot," Hague said. 

He, however, added, “Now, we have to do the pilot and the commander role as a single person, you know, so there’s not going to be a pilot there.”

He explained that they will have to divide the responsibilities of a pilot and a commander, and carry out "tasks that we need to do in those different situations".

"Ultimately the commander has the responsibility to make sure that the crew is safe and make decisions about that," the NASA astronaut added. Hague also said that Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov "is extremely capable of doing that I would do as a pilot".

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Starliner Setback and Crew Rotation

The Crew-9 mission was originally scheduled to launch with four astronauts. However, technical difficulties with the Starliner spacecraft, which experienced helium leaks and thruster issues during its first crewed mission in June, forced NASA to alter its plans.

The Starliner returned to Earth uncrewed, leaving Williams and Wilmore on the ISS longer than expected. NASA decided to reduce the Crew-9 crew to two and utilize the remaining seats on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to bring Williams and Wilmore home in February 2025.

Training and Preparation for Return

Hague and Gorbunov have been working with Williams and Wilmore to familiarise them with the Dragon spacecraft and prepare them for their return journey. "They’ve got an opportunity right now to be familiar with, and they need to be familiar with it because Crew-8’s Dragon is their rescue vehicle right now," Hague explained. "And so they need to know...just general features about how to live and be in Dragon because it could take a day or two to get back down once you undock from the station."

Key facts about Crew-9 mission

1. The Crew 9 mission to the International Space Station will be the first crewed spaceflight mission to launch from Space Launch Complex-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Station.

2. It is SpaceX's ninth crewed rotational mission to the orbital laboratory as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

3. The crew will stay at the station for about five months, conducting more than 200 scientific research demonstrations before returning in February 2025.

4. This will be the third launch and second mission to the space station for Nick Hague, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and has spent 203 days in space.

5. During its stay at the orbital laboratory, Crew-9 will welcome two Dragon spacecraft, including NASA's 31st commercial resupply mission from SpaceX and NASA's SpaceX Crew-10, as well as two Roscosmos-led cargo deliveries by spacecraft Progress 90 and 91.

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