Crew Quarantine – Kennedy Space Center

NASA, SpaceX to Discuss Crew-9 Mission

Image shows SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. — 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.

More details about the launch will be posted on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook.

NASA Hosts Crew-9 Space Station 101 Social Panel

A graphic for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission is displayed on the historic countdown clock at the NASA News Center at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Cory S Huston

NASA will host an International Space Station 101 panel livestream at 1:15 p.m. Friday, Sept 27. Agency experts will provide an overview about the space station, operations, science, living and working in space, and take questions from reporters and social media.

Participants in the livestream panel include:

NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
Robyn Gatens, director, NASA’s International Space Station Program, and acting director, NASA’s Commercial Spaceflight Division
Jennifer Buchli, chief scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
John Posey, Dragon engineer, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

NASA will stream the briefing beginning at 1:15 p.m. on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

Following the panel discussion, leaders from NASA and SpaceX will host a prelaunch news conference at 5 p.m. to discuss final steps leading up to the 1:17 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 launch from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, make up the two-man team who will launch aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and the company’s Falcon 9 rocket to the orbiting laboratory.

Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 55% of favorable weather conditions for the launch. Cumulus cloud rule, flight through precipitation, surface electric fields rule are the primary weather concerns.

More details about the launch will be posted on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Enters Quarantine Ahead of Launch

Photo shows NASA, SpaceX Crew-9 members from right to left, Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — From right to left, NASA SpaceX Crew-9 members Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, pose for an official crew portrait at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Photo Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarel

Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission will spend the next two weeks in routine preflight quarantine at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston ahead of their mission to the International Space Station.

NASA and SpaceX have shifted the Crew-9 launch to no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 25, to complete prelaunch preparations and ensure separation between operations. Liftoff is targeted for 2:28 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. This is the first time a human spaceflight mission will launch from the pad. Additional launch opportunities are available on Thursday, Sept. 26, Friday, Sept. 27, and Saturday, Sept. 28.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, will remain in isolation to prevent exposure to any illnesses before they join the Expedition 72 crew at the space station. As part of the Crew-9 crew, Hague and Gorbunov will join NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who arrived to the space station in June.

Hague and Gorbunov are set to arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Sept. 20, where the pair will remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building until launch.

Crew-9 is the ninth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew will spend approximately five months at the orbiting laboratory conducting spacewalks, research demonstrations, and experiments before returning in February 2025.

More details about the launch will be posted on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook.