NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 back on Earth after 286-day science mission

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov splashed down in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of America, on 18 March, after completing a long-duration science expedition aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The SpaceX Crew-9 splashed down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, on Tuesday, after completing an extra long commercial crew rotation mission to the ISS. The undocking and return journey of the spacecraft was live telecast by NASA.

The spacecraft carrying astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, splashed down at 5:57 pm EDT. The waiting recovery vessel retrieved the spacecraft and returned to shore. The four crew members were then flown to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to reunite with their families.

Hague and Gorbunov lifted off at 1:17 pm on 28 September 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The next day, they docked to the space station’s Harmony module. 

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft carrying Williams and Wilmore lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41, in a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, on 5 June 2024, and arrived at the space station on 6 June. Starliner returned to Earth In August without the crew.

During the 286-day ISS mission Williams and Wilmore traveled 121,347,491 miles and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth. Hague and Gorbunov traveled 72,553,920 miles, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits around Earth. 

The Crew-9 mission was the first spaceflight for Gorbunov. Hague has logged 374 days in space in two missions, Williams has logged 608 days in three flights, and Wilmore 464 days in three flights. Williams also conducted two spacewalks - one with Wilmore and another with Hague. 

Crew-9 carried out a host of science and technology demonstrations and maintenance activities. 

During their stay, the four crew members conducted more than 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations lasting over 900 hours of research. They experimented with plant growth, the potential of stem cell technology, autoimmune disorders, and cancers. 

Besides the crew tested lighting systems to help astronauts maintain circadian rhythms. They also loaded the first wooden satellite for deployment, and took samples from the space station’s exterior to study the survivability of microorganisms in space.

The Crew-9 mission was the fourth flight of the Dragon spacecraft. It also earlier flown NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4, Axiom Mission 2, and Axiom Mission 3. 

The spacecraft will now be taken to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at Florida for refurbishing analysis of performance data, and processing for its next flight.

The Crew-9 flight is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme, and its return to Earth comes on the heels of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 launch, which docked to the station on 16 March beginning another long-duration science expedition.