NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, tasked with returning Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to the space station, was delayed on Tuesday. The mission was scheduled to launch on September 26. However, the Crew-9 launch was moved to September 28 due to “weather concerns” related to Tropical Storm Helene.
“The NASA and SpaceX teams have decided to conduct the next launch opportunity for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission no earlier than 1:17 p.m. EDT,” NASA said in an update on Sept. 24. [or 10:47 pm]on Saturday, September 28, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
SpaceX said that although the “immediate launch” is scheduled for 1:17 p.m. ET on Sept. 28, there is a backup opportunity available if necessary on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 12:54 p.m. ET.
When and where to watch the launch? The mission’s live webcast will begin about an hour before launch, which you can watch on SpaceX’s X account. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
Why was the launch of Crew-9 delayed?
The decision was made “due to expected tropical storm conditions in the area.” “Although Tropical Storm Helene is moving over the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to impact the Florida Panhandle, the storm system is large enough to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island areas on Florida’s east coast,” NASA said.
The US space agency said the change will give teams the opportunity to complete rehearsals for launch day activities with the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, SpaceX posted videos and images of a full rehearsal of launch day activities ahead of the liftoff on Saturday.
“Following rehearsal activities, the integrated system will move back to the hangar ahead of any potential storm activity,” NASA said.
Crew 9’s mission is to bring back Sunita Williams
The Crew 9 mission will be the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov will launch to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket.
The Crew 9 mission was re-planned to bring Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back home on the Dragon spacecraft. Initially, the Crew 9 mission was to be launched with four crew members.
Meanwhile, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore launched into space on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5. They arrived at the International Space Station on June 6. During their journey, the Starliner encountered technical problems, which delayed its return from space.
The Boeing spacecraft and its crew members were initially scheduled to return from the ISS in mid-June. However, NASA decided to return an “empty” Starliner to Earth, keeping in mind the safety of the two astronauts. It was then decided to help the crew – Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore – return to Earth on a SpaceX spacecraft.
For this, only two crew members were kept instead of four in the Crew 9 mission. Now this mission will launch with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, leaving two seats vacant for Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Hague and Gorbunov will fly to the space station as part of a two-crew flight aboard a SpaceX Dragon as commander and mission specialist, respectively.
The Crew-9 mission was originally scheduled to launch no earlier than August 18, but it was postponed by a month to spend more time analyzing problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. It has been delayed again due to weather concerns.
