NASA shuffles Crew-9 astronauts that will bring Starliner crew home

SpaceX’s Crew-9 ngo volition motorboat to the International Space Station with lone NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov connected board, according to an update connected Friday. Crew-9 volition motorboat “no earlier” than September 24th, with plans to bring delayed Starliner astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams backmost to Earth adjacent February.

Wilmore and Williams arrived astatine the ISS successful June and were lone expected to enactment for astir a week portion conducting tests. However, helium leaks and valve issues connected Boeing’s Starliner delayed their return, and NASA gave up connected sending them back connected the spacecraft altogether. The bureau decided to bring Wilmore and Williams location connected SpaceX’s Dragon capsule with the Crew-9 ngo instead.

NASA says the different 2 US astronauts initially chosen for the mission, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, volition beryllium eligible for reassignment. The bureau doesn’t specify wherefore it divided the unit up. Despite serving arsenic a thrust for Starliner’s astronauts, the 2 Crew-9 members volition transportation retired their archetypal extremity of performing probe astatine the ISS during their stay.

“While we’ve changed unit earlier for a assortment of reasons, downsizing unit for this formation was different pugnacious determination to set to fixed that the unit has trained arsenic a unit of four,” NASA main astronaut Joe Acaba said successful a statement. “I person the utmost assurance successful each our crew, who person been fantabulous passim grooming for the mission.”

Meanwhile, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft volition autonomously undock from the ISS connected September 6th astatine 6:04PM. It won’t person anyone onboard, but teams connected the crushed volition beryllium acceptable to “remotely bid the spacecraft” if needed. The spacecraft is acceptable to onshore successful New Mexico’s White Sands Space Harbor astir six hours later.