Category: Expedition 72

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission lifted off at 1:17 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This marks the first time a human spaceflight mission launched from the pad.  

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are already experiencing 2 g while SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket go through a rapid succession of events.   

It is expected to take 28.5 hours for the spacecraft to autonomously dock to the space station at 5:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 29, while traveling 17,000 mph orbiting the Earth.  

Coming up next, the nine Merlin engines on Falcon 9’s first stage will burn through one million pounds of propellant during the next three minutes.  

NASA’s live coverage continues on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Also, check back for updates on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook. 

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fueling is underway with rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and first-stage liquid oxygen. About 16 minutes before liftoff, liquid oxygen fueling will begin for the second stage.   

Liftoff is the next big milestone! Launch weather officers with the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron predict a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch.   

Liftoff remains scheduled for 1:17 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The launch director just gave a “go” for the crew access arm to retract away from SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket.   

A few minutes later, Dragon’s launch escape system will be armed to allow the Crew-9 crew members to escape safely in the unlikely event of an anomaly from the moment the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off until the Dragon spacecraft reaches orbit.  

Propellant loading is coming up next. 

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will be busy during their roughly five-month mission at the International Space Station.  

The Crew-9 members will conduct more than 200 science investigations involving blood clotting studies, moisture effects on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts.  

Researchers want to determine how environmental conditions affect platelets and megakaryocytes, which are large cells found in bone marrow. Both play important roles in blood clotting and immune response, and the results could provide answers for humans in space and here on Earth.  

The crew also will study the vision changes that often occur while astronauts are in orbit and if a daily vitamin B supplement will make a difference. It’s still unknown why some astronauts experience vision changes and others do not, but researchers have been studying it for years.  

Members of Crew-9 will participate in a spacewalk to repair a telescope attached to the outside of the space station.  

Hague and Gorbunov are scheduled to launch to the space station at 1:17 p.m. EDT aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

The Dragon spacecraft’s hatch is now closed. Liftoff of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket remains on track for 1:17 p.m. EDT.  

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, will spend about five months at the International Space Station. This is Hague’s second spaceflight to the orbiting laboratory and Gorbunov’s first time.  

Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.  

NASA’s live coverage of the Crew-9 mission continues on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Also, check back for updates on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook. 

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are strapped in SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. 

Hague and Gorbunov soon will go through another round of spacesuit pressurization and communication checks with NASA and SpaceX launch and mission teams.  

In addition to the two crew members, the spacecraft will carry cargo, science experiments, and personal items for the five-month mission. Hague and Gorbunov will join NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who arrived at the station in June, before returning to Earth in February 2025 as a crew of four.  

Liftoff to the International Space Station remains at 1:17 p.m. EDT. At the moment of launch, the space station will be traveling over northeast Bulgaria. 

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are climbing into SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.  

Just moments ago, the pair entered the White Room and continued the tradition of signing their names on the NASA meatball logo on the wall. Hague and Gorbunov will be the first names on the wall since this is the first human spaceflight mission from Space Launch Complex-40. The White Room is an area at the end of the crew access arm that connects to the spacecraft – the term dates to the Gemini program and the white paint used on the room.  

As the crew enters the Dragon spacecraft, their seats are in the upright position. Once the crew is securely inside, the seats rotate into a reclined position for launch just before launch teams close Dragon’s side hatch.  

Liftoff remains at 1:17 p.m. EDT.  

NASA’s live coverage of the Crew-9 mission continues on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Also check back for updates on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook. 

Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 are about two hours away from launch! 

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, arrived at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, where a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft will launch them to the International Space Station. 

Space Launch Complex-40 carries decades of history dating back to the 1960s when Titan rockets launched from the pad for the United States Air Force. SpaceX leased the launch site in 2007 for the company’s Falcon 9 rockets, but this is the first time a human spaceflight mission will launch from the pad. In 2023, teams at SpaceX built a tower, a crew access arm, and an emergency escape system for future crewed missions. The emergency system involves chutes instead of egress baskets like those used at Launch Complex 39A and B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. 

 Hague and Gorbunov will soon board an elevator to the crew access arm, where they will walk across to the White Room for last-minute preparations before entering the spacecraft. 

 Liftoff remains scheduled for 1:17 p.m. EDT.  

Nick Hague became a NASA astronaut in 2013. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 launch today will be Hague’s third launch and second mission to the International Space Station. He has logged 203 days in space during Expeditions 59 and 60. 

An active-duty colonel in the U.S. Space Force, Hague completed a developmental rotation with the Defense Department and served as the Space Force’s director of test and evaluation from 2020 to 2022. In August 2022, Hague resumed duties at NASA, working on the Boeing Starliner Program until the Crew-9 assignment. Follow @astrohague on X and Instagram. 

This will be Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov’s first trip to space and the station. Born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia, he studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute. Gorbunov graduated from the military department with a specialty in operating and repairing aircraft, helicopters, and aircraft engines. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corp. Energia and supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.  

Hague and Gorbunov soon will board a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to launch to the International Space Station from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. They will spend about five months at the orbiting laboratory conducting experiments, research demonstrations, and spacewalks to perform maintenance on the space station.  

Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:  

https://www.nasa.gov/station