What happened with Starliner:How Boeing's Starliner test flight got here and what NASA might do to bring astronauts home That's why NASA opted to prolong the stay of Wilmore and Williams and make them part of Crew-9. "But the best total risk profile is to bring them back on Crew-9 in a nominal return seated configuration," Posey said. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were originally set to fly to the ISS on Crew-9, but were removed from the flight to allow for this modification. During a prelaunch briefing, Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, praised the professionalism the astronauts showed adjusting to the change. "We're going to find spots for them to fly," Bowersox said. NASA officials told media that Hague was chosen based on experience. This would have been Cardman's first spaceflight. While Wilson has 42 days of spaceflight experience, Hague's experience far surpasses hers at 203 days onboard the ISS. NASA/SpaceX Crew-9 brings science to the ISS The Crew Dragon that launched Saturday was packed with science experiments that will keep the crew busy during their time in orbit. According to ISS National Laboratory, two of these experiments include: A study which looks into how radiation impacts genetics. The project, led by Yale University freshman Isabel Jiang, was the 2023 winner of the Genes in Space student research competition. The competition was founded by Boeing and miniPCR bio and is supported by the ISS National Lab and New England BioLabs. A study on root growth of Arabidopsis plants (atype of mustard plant) in space, which will be returned on the CRS-31 Dragon spacecraft. An earlier part of the Arabidopsis study was flown on the recent PolarisDawn mission, and the results will be compared to study how different orbits impacted plant growth. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars. Featured Weekly Ad