NASA, SpaceX target next week to launch new crewed mission to space station

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — NASA and SpaceX are targeting next Thursday, Sept. 26, to launch a new crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are preparing to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to ISS, NASA said on Thursday.
The flight is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
The two astronauts are scheduled to lift off aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Crew-9 will conduct new scientific research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit and benefit humanity on Earth, according to NASA.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June, will fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025. ■