SpaceX Launches Rescue Mission To ISS To Bring Stranded Astronauts Home

• 29.09.2024, 8:58

The crew consists of two people instead of four.

Elon Musk's SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, Voice of America reports. This ship will have an additional mission.

The crew of the spacecraft consists of two people instead of four. Two seats were decided to be reserved for the return to Earth of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were delayed on the station much longer than planned.

These astronauts arrived at the ISS on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft in early June and were supposed to spend only a week in orbit. But when docking with the station, the Starliner experienced problems with the propulsion system. NASA considered it unsafe for returning the astronauts to Earth and decided to send them home on the spacecraft of Boeing's main competitor in space — SpaceX.

As a result, instead of a week, Williams and Wilmore will have to stay on the station for as much as eight months. The Crew Dragon ship will return to Earth only in February 2025.