SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon Aims for Launch This Weekend: How to Watch
- by CNET
- Sep 27, 2024
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While SpaceX rocket launches aren't exactly a rarity, the aimed Saturday launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is unique: it's Phase 1 in returning the two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station back to Earth.
Barring further delays as Hurricane Helene bears down on Florida, the NASA Crew-9 launch -- so named because it's the ninth commercial crew mission -- is planned for 1:17 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 28, with a backup launch time of 12:54 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 29, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Two astronauts will head to the ISS, with an expected return in February with Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who arrived at the ISS in June via a Boeing Starliner capsule on what was supposed to be an eight-day mission.
SpaceX is working with NASA on the mission, having moved its Dragon space transport to where the mission will begin. Crew Dragon Freedom previously flew on a Crew-4 Mission to the ISS in 2022, as well as carrying out two prior private missions.
Who'll be on board?
Thursday's mission will have a two-person crew: NASA astronaut Nick Hague, who'll serve as commander, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the mission specialist. Crew-9's four-person team was cut in half in order to accommodate the return of Williams and Wilmore.
Hague turned 50 on Tuesday, and Gorbunov is 39. Hague has been an astronaut since 2013 and has spent time on the ISS on previous missions. He was US Space Force director of test and evaluation from 2020 to 2022 before coming back to NASA to work on the Boeing Starliner program. Gorbunov was selected as a cosmonaut in 2018 and has worked in various engineering roles.
Where to watch the launch
The NASA Plus website, the agency's YouTube channel and NASA's livestream page are your best bets for watching the launch, but you can be sure SpaceX will also be posting updates and streams. The live webcast of the launch will begin an hour prior to liftoff.
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