NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9/Flight Day 1 Highlights - Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft Sept. 28 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew members are scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station on Sept. 29 where they will conduct an approximately five-month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. Such research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars. Upon return, Hague and Gorbunov will be joined by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in the two open seats.