29 Sep 2024, 11:08 PM IST A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Expedition 72 astronauts lifts off from launch complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on September 28(AFP) SpaceX launched a reduced two-man crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, carrying supplies and two empty seats for Starliner astronauts awaiting a return home in February after an unplanned eight-and-a-half-month stay in orbit. The spacecraft is slated to dock at the International Space Station around 3:30 am on Monday. "A Falcon rocket took off from Florida on Saturday, carrying two astronauts and two empty seats to bring Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams back to Earth. Wilmore and Williams have been stranded in space since June due to issues with the Boeing Starliner," CBS News stated in a post on X. Also Read | SpaceX Crew-9 launch: Falcon 9 in fresh trouble? Second stage returns but… Initially, the mission was expected to last eight to ten days. However, various helium leaks in the Starliner's propulsion system, coupled with reduced thrust in five manoeuvring jets, led NASA to decide to bring the spacecraft down earlier this month without its crew. As per the CBS News, consequently, NASA opted to launch the Crew 9 Dragon with only two of its original crew members, allowing the ship to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth at the end of its mission in February. By the time they land aboard the Crew 9 capsule around February 22, they will have spent over 262 days in space. Some have described the Crew Dragon flight as a "rescue" mission. However, Wilmore and Williams have always had a path home, first via their spacecraft, then aboard Crew 8 Dragon, and after Sunday's docking, via Crew 9 Dragon. NASA deemed this option as the least disruptive to the ISS crew rotation schedule. During a post-launch press conference, Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management for SpaceX, expressed her support, stating, "At SpaceX, we were all cheering on our NASA and our Boeing friends for a successful CFT (Cre Flight Test) mission." She added, "Bringing new human spaceflight capabilities is exciting, but these early test flights come with lessons learned, always. We still learn something every single time we fly. We've had our share of hardware challenges." Transitioning from a four-member crew to just two posed a unique challenge for Hague and Gorbunov, as well as Wilmore and Williams, who were not trained for flight aboard a Crew Dragon. "We're going to launch as a two-person crew, and then we're going to land as a four-person crew," Hague explained. "And one of the unique challenges of that is, how do we integrate the other two crew members into the Dragon operations when they've had very minimal Dragon training before they launched?" Hague noted that the ground teams have been instrumental in preparing both crews, stating, "The teams on the ground have helped not only get us ready, but they've already started helping Butch and Suni train to understand what they're going to need to do inside of the Dragon. That's going to be a top priority when we get there, (helping) them understand what they're going to need to do to operate as part of the Crew 9 crew."