UPDATED: Sep 29, 2024 14:09 IST Advertisement After the successful launch of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission aimed to return stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore, a significant issue arose with the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage. While it was disposed of in the ocean as planned, the deorbit burn was off-nominal, resulting in the stage landing outside the designated area. NASA and SpaceX are currently investigating the root cause of this anomaly before resuming future launches. advertisement “After today’s successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside the targeted area. We will resume launching after we better understand root cause,” SpaceX said. This mission aims to rescue astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded on the ISS for over 100 days due to complications with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. The Crew-9 mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral, carried only two crew members — NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov — leaving two seats empty for Williams and Wilmore on their return flight scheduled for February 2025. NASA had to adapt its plans following serious technical issues with the Starliner, which included thruster malfunctions and helium leaks during its initial flight. Despite this setback with the Falcon 9's second stage, NASA officials expressed optimism about the mission's overall success and the astronauts' safe return. "We are in an exciting period of exploration," said NASA chief Bill Nelson following the launch. The investigation into the Falcon 9 issue will be critical as both agencies aim to ensure safety in future missions. Published By: