Crew-9 Demonstrates Flexibility of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

By Bob Granath

On Sept. 28, 2024, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia. The Crew-9 mission is scheduled for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Launching the Crew Dragon with two unoccupied seats is part of the agency’s decision to return the Boeing Crew Flight Test Starliner spacecraft uncrewed demonstrating the flexibility of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA and SpaceX the launch by two days due to adverse weather conditions in the area. Although Tropical Storm Helene moved through the Gulf of Mexico and impacted the Florida panhandle, the storm system was forecast to produce high winds and heavy rain on Florida’s east coast.

The first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner launched June 5, 2024 with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. This flight provides a second vehicle to send astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Once in orbit, NASA and Boeing engineers identified helium leaks in the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters as Starliner approached the space station.

As a result, NASA managers decided Wilmore and Williams would continue work aboard the orbiting laboratory as part of the Expedition 72 crew. They will return aboard the Crew-9 spacecraft with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2025. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, who previously were announced as part of Crew-9, will be reassigned to a future mission.

According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, the decision reflects the agency’s “safety culture in action.”

“Boeing worked hard with NASA to get the necessary data to make a decision,” he said. “We want to further understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that the Boeing Starliner will serve as an important part of assured crewed access to and from the International Space Station.”

Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, noted that the decision was based on a need for a higher level of certainty to return Starliner with its crew as originally planned.

“Starliner is a very capable spacecraft,” he said. “NASA and Boeing teams have completed a tremendous amount of testing and analysis, and this flight test is providing critical information on Starliner’s performance in space. Our efforts will help prepare for the uncrewed return and will greatly benefit future corrective actions for the spacecraft.”

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Starliner spacecraft autonomously undocked from the International Space Station uncrewed on Sept. 6, 2024 and successfully landed at the White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor. Boeing engineers now will study the in-flight anomaly to make adjustments in advance of the next launch of a crew.

Together with the other Expectation 72 crewmembers, Hague and Gorbunov will continue ongoing scientific research aboard the orbital laboratory’s 24th year of continuous presence benefiting humans living on and off the Earth. In addition to Wilmore and Williams, also aboard the International Space Station is the Soyuz MS-26 crew of NASA astronauts Don Pettit, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner launched Sept. 1, 2024.

Those who arrived at the space station as part of the Crew-8 mission lifted off March 3, 2024 with NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Russia. They will return to Earth shortly after the arrival of Crew-9.

The Crew

Hague is a native of Belleville, Kansas, and is a colonel in the U.S. Space Force. He was awarded a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1998 and went on to earn a master’s in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. He was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 2013.

After liftoff on his first mission on Oct. 11 2018, Hague and his Roscosmos crewmate, Alexei Ovchinin, experienced a serious malfunction of their Soyuz booster requiring a quick return to Earth. Following the abort of their Soyuz MS-10 launch attempt to the International Space Station, Hague and Ovchinin along with NASA astronaut Christina Koch launched on Soyuz MS-12 in 2019. Hague spent 203 days abroad the orbiting outpost.

During a pre-launch news conference, Hague spoke about his second long-term mission aboard the space station.

“I’m thrilled to be part of Crew-9 to have the opportunity to call the space station home once again,” he said. “I’m humbled to be a part of this amazing team of dedicated astronauts. (I want to) “continue the legacy of international cooperation conducting ISS Research for the benefit of all.”

Gorbunov was born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region of Russia. He studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages at the Moscow Aviation Institute graduating from the military department with a specialty in operating and repairing aircraft, helicopters and aircraft engines.

He served as a lieutenant of the Russian Air Force and worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corp. Energia, the Russian company that manufactures spacecraft and space station components and supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. He was selected as a cosmonaut in 2018.

At the pre-launch new conference, Gorbunov was asked to compare flying the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the SpaceX Dragon.

“On Soyuz, the flight engineer has a similar role to the mission specialist on Dragon,” he said. “The main responsibilities for both is to ensure safety during the flight whether it’s a nominal flight or during off nominal situations. This is going to be my first mission and I hope not my last. So I still hope to have an opportunity to compare training and flying on Soyuz and Dragon.”

The Spacecraft

The SpaceX Crew Dragon is an autonomous spacecraft designed to deliver a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth orbit. The mission’s Crew Dragon capsule is 27 feet high and 13 feet in diameter.

For NASA trips to the International Space Station, the spacecraft can carry up to seven agency-sponsored crewmembers and return astronauts with about 6,600 pounds of time-critical scientific research experiments and equipment. The capsule’s trunk is an integral element of the spacecraft, containing solar panels, heat-removal radiators, and fins to provide aerodynamic stability in the unlikely event of an emergency abort.

The Falcon 9 launch vehicle is 229 feet tall and is 12 feet in diameter. The first stage has nine engines generating 1,710,000 pounds of thrust. The second stage has one engine with 210,000 pounds of thrust. Propellant for both stages are RP-1, highly refined kerosene, and liquid oxygen. Like the Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first stage of the rocket is reusable. Following liftoff, the Falcon 9 first stage will separate from the second stage and land at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The Mission

During the International Space Station’s Expedition 72, the crew will continue work advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers from more than 100 nations.

Expedition 72 studies will focus on flame behavior on Earth, better understanding how cells and platelets react during long-duration spaceflight and a B vitamin that could reduce Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome. Experiments will include understanding the physics of stellar supernova explosions and monitoring the effects of different moisture treatments on plants grown aboard the space station. These are just a few of over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations taking place during their mission.

Two Dragon spacecraft, including NASA SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission and NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 will be welcomed during the mission. Additionally, two Roscosmos cargo spacecraft, Progress 90 and 91, will make deliveries.

In February 2025, Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore, and Williams plan to autonomously depart the space station, re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splashdown. A SpaceX recovery vessel will pick up the spacecraft and crew.

For more than 24 years, astronauts have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. At the same time, commercial compares are focusing on providing human space transportation services as part of a robust low-Earth orbit economy.

Research aboard the space station is paving the way for future long-duration trips to the Moon and beyond through NASA’s Artemis missions. With the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket, the agency’s Artemis Program is designed to achieve that goal of expanding human presence on the Moon and in deep space, enabling eventual exploration of Mars.

© 2024 SpaceAgeChronicle.com All Rights Reserved

Crew-9 Lifts Off to International Space Station

Check out this short video of the liftoff of Crew-9 NASA Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia on their way for a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Video courtesy of NASA