SpaceX's Crew Dragon space capsule arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, set to return stranded American astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams to Earth next year, NASA and SpaceX announced.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov went to the International Space Station shortly after the Dragon capsule docked at the station at 11:30 p.m. Hungarian time.
The SpaceX Crew-9 mission was supposed to deliver four astronauts to the International Space Station. However, the crew size of four has been reduced to two, so that astronauts Sonny Williams and Barry Wilmore, who were previously stranded on the space station due to technical problems, can return in February.
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft that returned Willmore and Williams in June has become unfit for their return. Engine failures and helium leaks were discovered aboard the Starliner, so NASA decided it was unsafe for astronauts to return with the spacecraft, which eventually returned to Earth without a crew.
Willmore and Williams will now replace Hague and Gorbunov and return home aboard the Crew Dragon in February next year, so their planned 8-day mission will extend to 8 months.
Follow Index on Facebook too!
