A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, marking the beginning of a rescue mission for two stranded crew members.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral on Saturday, carrying the Crew-9 mission. After a successful docking, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov joined the ISS crew, including station commander Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded due to issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
The Starliner, on its first crewed flight in June, encountered problems with its propulsion system, forcing NASA to devise a new plan. After extensive testing, the agency decided to return the Starliner to Earth without its crew and bring Wilmore and Williams back on the Crew-9 mission.
SpaceX has been conducting regular ISS crew rotations every six months. However, the Crew-9 launch was delayed several times due to evaluations of the Starliner's reliability and the impact of Hurricane Helene.
Hague and Gorbunov will spend approximately five months on the ISS, while Wilmore and Williams will complete an eight-month stay. The Crew-9 mission will conduct over 200 scientific experiments during their time on the station.
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