The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with four Expedition 72 crewmates relocated to a different port on the International Space Station to free up the docking port for the next cargo resupply spacecraft.
The SpaceX Dragon craft carried former NASA Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, as well as NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, both of whom were originally assigned to Crew-9.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, along with four spacecraft, lifted off from the forward port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station at 6:35 a.m. ET (5:05 a.m. IST) on Sunday and at 7 a.m. autonomously returned to the module’s space- Re-docked at facing port: 18:00 AM (5:6 PM IST).
Video: Watch Dragon heading towards ISS
The Crew Dragon spacecraft were relocated to another port on the ISS to make room for the cargo version of the spacecraft, also called Dragon, which is scheduled to dock at the empty Harmony port after launch on Monday, November 4. Had to be done. It is known as NASA’s SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply service mission. Watch this mission launch Here
NASA said this was the fifth port transfer of a Crew Dragon spacecraft with a crew, following previous moves during the Crew-1, Crew-2, Crew-6 and Crew-8 missions.
What’s launching on SpaceX’s 31st cargo resupply mission to the space station? Scientific investigations launching aboard the International Space Station on the 31st SpaceX Commercial Replenishment Service mission include studies of the solar wind, radiation-tolerant moss, spacecraft materials and cold welding in space.
All about SpaceX Crew 9 mission
SpaceX Crew-9 is the tenth flight of the Dragon spacecraft carrying people as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos astronaut Alexander Gorbunov enter the International Space Station on September 29.
Meanwhile, space station commander Sunita Williams and flight engineer Butch Wilmore remain on the space station as members of the Expedition 72 crew. The former Starliner astronauts will return to Earth in February 2025 with Hague and Gorbunov as part of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
Crew-9 Dragon is now the normal and emergency return spacecraft for a four-person crew. Earlier, it was Crew-8 Dragon, which returned to Earth on October 25, ending the 235-day Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were launched into space on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, are spending extra time aboard the International Space Station after experiencing anomalies in their spacecraft during a trip to the ISS.
The Starliner pair were reassigned to the Crew-9 mission after NASA determined they could safely return home aboard a Boeing spacecraft to end their test ISS mission, Space.com reports. It was a huge “risk” to bring.
NASA had modified its Crew-9 mission to include Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore in the mission. It was originally planned to launch the agency’s two other astronauts, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, on Crew-9. They were removed from the mission to leave two empty seats for Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth with the rest of Crew-9 in February 2025.
