Crew-9 Mission Arrives at ISS
Falcon 9 Upper Stage Experienced Anomaly, Company Suspends Launches
The Crew-9 mission arrived safely at the International Space Station on Sunday following a launch from Cape Canaveral, FL Saturday afternoon. But while the flight went smoothly for the crew, it was not without its issues.
“Our NASA wizards and our commercial and international partners have shown once again the success that comes from working together.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov joined Expedition 72 for a five-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. The mission was originally planned for four crewmembers, but the crew was reduced to two so that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to ISS on the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Mission, could have a ride back to Earth in February.
“This mission required a lot of operational and planning flexibility. I congratulate the entire team on a successful launch today, and godspeed to Nick and Aleksandr as they make their way to the space station,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Our NASA wizards and our commercial and international partners have shown once again the success that comes from working together and adapting to changing circumstances without sacrificing the safe and professional operations of the International Space Station.”
The Dragon capsule autonomously docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 5:30 p.m., Sunday.
However, the flight was marred by an anomaly with the upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which occurred after the stage separated from the capsule in orbit. On X, SpaceX said that "After today’s successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed (of) in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn. As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area.
"We will resume launching after we better understand (the) root cause."