Washington [US], September 29: The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX Corporation (USA) launched a spacecraft on September 28 towards the International Space Station (ISS) to bring two stranded astronauts back to Earth.
CNN reported that SpaceX's new mission, named Crew-9, took off on September 28 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida USA). The ship is expected to bring two NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore back to Earth in February 2025
The decision was made after Boeing 's Starliner spacecraft used to transport NASA astronauts to the ISS in June encountered many technical problems and safety concerns.
The astronauts were originally scheduled to stay on the ISS for only eight days, but due to an incident when the capsule leaked helium and the propulsion system of the Boeing ship failed, Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore were forced to stay on the ISS for several months.
Earlier, on September 25, NASA announced that it had decided to postpone the launch of a spacecraft to the ISS due to Tropical Storm Helene making landfall in Florida and other areas in the southeastern United States. The mission was re-established and prepared for September 27 after the danger had passed.
The Crew-9 mission carried only two crew members instead of four, including NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos (Russia) astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Astronaut Hague, who was part of the Crew-9 mission, acknowledged the challenges of traveling with a smaller crew and returning with crew members trained on a different spacecraft. "We have a lot of challenges ahead of us. We understand each other and as professionals, we go ahead and do the job," Hague was quoted as saying by the Times of India .
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
