NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission to launch ‘without pilot’, Sunita Williams to come home on Dragon: ‘Countdown begins’

The countdown for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission has begun, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on Friday. The mission, with two crew members and no pilot, is set to launch on September 26. This is the mission that has been tasked to bring back "stranded" Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from space.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida around 1:30 pm ET (11:00 pm Indian Standard Time) on Saturday, September 21. They were earlier sent to routine pre-flight quarantine at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston ahead of the mission.

Hague and Gorbunov will fly to the International Space Station as commander and mission specialist, respectively, as part of a two-crew member flight aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. In addition to September 26 (at 2:05 pm EDT or 11:35 IST), launch opportunities are available on September 27 and September 28.

According to NASA, Hague and Gorbonov will become part of the Expedition 72 crew aboard the ISS. They will join NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, and Don Pettit, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. The Crew 9 mission will bring the space station’s population up to seven.

Crew 9 mission has no pilot

Initially, when SpaceX Crew 9 mission was supposed to launch with four astronauts, Nick Hague was the pilot assigned to the mission. But when the crew changed, Hague was assigned the role of a commander to the Crew 9 mission.

"...the focus of effort over the last three weeks is what do we need to do differently to be able to launch as a crew of two, as a crew without a pilot," Hague said. 

He, however, added, “Now, we have to do the pilot and the commander role as a single person, you know, so there’s not going to be a pilot there.”

He explained that they will have to divide the responsibilities of a pilot and a commander, and carry out "tasks that we need to do in those different situations".

"Ultimately the commander has the responsibility to make sure that the crew is safe and make decisions about that," the NASA astronaut added. Hague also said that Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov "is extremely capable of doing that I would do as a pilot".

Sunita Williams to return with Crew 9: Lessons to be learnt

NASA astronaut and Crew-9 Commander Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut and Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov will return from space with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. 

They will ride back home on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Crew 9 was initially designed to launch with four members. However, the setback with the Starliner mission prompted the NASA to alter both the space missions.

The US space agency brought the Starliner spacecraft back without its crew members – Sunita and Butch. It decided to launch SpaceX Crew 9 mission with just two astronauts, as opposed to four initially. 

The agency said the two Starliner astronauts would return along with the Crew 9 members on February 25 (on two unoccupied seats on SpaceX).

The change in original mission pushed the four astronauts – Nick Hague, Aleksandr Gorbunov, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams – to train themselves for a successful mission ahead.

In a podcast, Nick Hague was asked how he and Alex have been working with Sunita and Butch, and how will they work with them once they get to the space station "to prepare them for their roles coming home in Dragon".

Hague responded, saying, “...they’ve [Sunita and Butch] got opportunity right now to be familiar with, and they need to be familiar with because Crew-8’s Dragon is their rescue vehicle right now.”

"And so they need to know...just general features about how to live and be in Dragon because it could take a day or two to get back down once you undock from the station. So they’re learning that already," Hague said. Notably, Crew 9 will replace Crew 8, which is currently on the ISS.

He also emphasized things that the Crew 9 mission is going to focus on. "...As a crew of four, how do we respond to the big things...How do we respond to a fire? How do we respond to a depressurization event? And fundamentally, it’s making sure that they have the training necessary to protect themselves."

"So how do you put on a spacesuit really fast? How do you put on a, you know, a breathing mask really fast so that you can get yourself safe? And Alex and I will take care of the rest," Hague said.

In February 2025, Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore, and Williams will climb aboard Dragon and autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, NASA said.

Key facts about Crew-9 mission

1. The Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station will be the first human spaceflight mission to launch from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

2. This is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the orbiting laboratory under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

3. The crew will spend approximately five months at the station, conducting more than 200 science and research demonstrations before returning in February 2025.

4. This will be the third launch and second mission to the space station for Nick Hague, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013 and has spent 203 days in space.

5. While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Crew-9 will welcome two Dragon spacecraft, including NASA’s SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10, and two Roscosmos-led cargo deliveries on Progress 90 and 91.