NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 members secured inside Dragon spacecraft at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
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’s SpaceX Crew-9 members board SpaceX Dragon spacecraft ahead of liftoff to the International Space Station on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
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.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 crewmembers arrive at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
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.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Nick Hague is pictured smiling in his flight suit during training at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX
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:
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 crew members walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of launch on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. NASA astronaut Nick Hague (right) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket. Launch is targeted for 1:17 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA
The crew is on their way to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-40 to launch on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. This is the first time a human spaceflight mission will launch from the pad.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, spent the last couple of hours eating and suiting up inside crew quarters at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Crew-9 crewmembers waved to family and friends before entering customized Tesla Model X vehicles, with a security escort, for a roughly 20-minute journey to the launch pad.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon spacecraft will launch Crew-9 to the space station for about a five-month mission. Hague and Gorbunov will join Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who are already aboard the space station, and all will return to Earth as a crew of four in February 2025.
NASA’s live coverage of the Crew-9 mission continues on NASA+and the agency’s website.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft sits atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Space Launch Complex-40 ahead of launch to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 launch operations are underway to send a NASA astronaut and Roscosmos cosmonaut to the International Space Station. Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Time Event (All times subject to change) 9:17 a.m. Suit donning and checkouts 9:57 a.m. Crew walkout from Neil A. Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building 10:02 a.m. Crew transportation to Launch Complex-40 10:20 a.m. Crew arrives at pad and ascends tower 10:42 a.m. Crew ingress 10:48 a.m. Seat rotation 10:49 a.m. Suit leak checks 10:58 a.m. Communication check 11:22 a.m. Hatch close 12:42 p.m. SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load 12:35 p.m. Crew access arm retracts 12:39 p.m. Dragon’s launch escape system is armed 12:42 p.m. RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins 12:42 p.m. 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins 1:01 p.m. 2nd stage LOX loading begins 1:10 p.m. Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch 1:15 p.m. Dragon transitions to internal power 1:16 p.m. Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks 1:16 p.m. Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins 1:16 p.m. SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch 1:17 p.m. Falcon 9 liftoff 1:18 p.m. Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket) 1:19 p.m. 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO) 1:19 p.m. 1st and 2nd stages separate 1:19 p.m. 2nd stage engine starts 1:20 p.m. Boostback Burn Starts 1:21 p.m. Boostback Burn Ends 1:23 p.m. 1st stage entry burn starts 1:24 p.m. 1st stage entry burn ends 1:24 p.m. 1st stage landing burn starts 1:25 p.m. 1st stage landing 1:26 p.m. 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1) 1:29 p.m. Dragon separates from 2nd stage 1:30 p.m. Dragon nosecone open sequence begins
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 crew members are seated inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of launch to the International Space Station on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. NASA astronaut Nick Hague (left) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to lift off aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket at 1:17 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are in the process of suit-up operations in the Astronaut Crew Quarters inside NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building in Florida.
The crew are sitting in seats configured like the ones they will occupy inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft during launch. Technicians are pressurizing the suits and checking for any leaks. Each 3D-printed helmet includes a communications system and valves to regulate the suit’s pressure systems. A port on the suit’s thigh connects to life support systems, including air and power.
Once suited, Hague and Gorbunov soon will play the ritual card game that occurs before any human spaceflight mission launching from the Florida spaceport. The point of the game is that the commander must use up all his or her bad luck before the launch, so the crew can only leave for the launch pad once the commander loses.
NASA’s Crew-9 crewmembers play ritual card game on launch day, Saturday, Sept. 24, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
Launch is targeted for 1:17 p.m. EDT at Space Launch Complex-40 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This is the first time a human spaceflight mission will launch from the pad.
NASA’s live coverage of the Crew-9 mission continues on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
Image of countdown clock on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Launch to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
NASA’s live coverage is underway on NASA+ and the agency’s website for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.
At 1:17 p.m. EDT, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, will begin their journey to the space station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 55% of favorable weather conditions for the launch. The cumulus cloud rule, flight through precipitation, and surface electric fields rule are the primary weather concerns.
Right now, the Crew-9 crewmembers are inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, undergoing medical checks and receiving a weather briefing before suiting up.
Hague and Gorbunov will join NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who arrived at the space station in June, to complete their crew contingent. The crew will spend about five months at the orbiting laboratory conducting experiments, research demonstrations, and spacewalks to perform maintenance on the space station before returning in February 2025.
A prelaunch news briefing takes place inside the John Holliman Auditorium of the News Center at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 two-man crew is ready for their mission to the International Space Station.
NASA and mission partners held a prelaunch news conference on Sept. 27 and the 1:17 p.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 28, liftoff remains on schedule from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 55% of favorable weather conditions for the launch. The cumulus cloud rule, flight through precipitation, and surface electric fields rule are the primary weather concerns.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket are back on the pad and cargo loading will soon begin. Both rolled back to the hangar on Wednesday to protect from Hurricane Helene.
Crew-9 will be the first human spaceflight mission to launch from the pad, carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, to the orbiting laboratory for a five-month science mission.
“We moved to a different pad, Space Launch Complex-40, and it’s great to have that flexibility to be able to use Launch Pad 39A or Space Launch Complex-40 for launches,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “I’m so proud of the commercial crew team, the International Space Station team, and our partners at SpaceX and the work they’ve done to prepare for launch.”
NASA’s broadcast coverage of the Crew-9 launch begins at 9:10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28. Watch live on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Dragon spacecraft on top is seen Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, on the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-40 as preparations continue for the Crew-9 mission at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
In less than 24 hours, Crew-9 crew members NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, will launch to the International Space Station.
Leading up to liftoff, NASA and SpaceX plan to host a prelaunch news conference from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Sept. 27, at 5 p.m. EDT with the following participants:
NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Dina Contella, deputy manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
William Gerstenmaier, vice president, Build & Flight Reliability, SpaceX
Brian Cizek, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Watch the event live on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Launch of the Crew-9 mission is targeted for 1:17 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 28, aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This is the first time a human spaceflight mission will launch from the pad.
