Washington DC, August 31:
On the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station, astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch no sooner than September 24.
The decision to launch Crew-9 with two vacant seats and return the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test unmanned led to the amended crew complement. A NASA news statement announced that in February 2025, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who went on board the Starliner spacecraft in June, will return home with Hague and Gorbunov.
Reassignment to a future mission is possible for NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, who were previously announced as crewmates.
On a two-crew member journey onboard a SpaceX Dragon, Hague will travel as commander and Gorbunov as mission specialist to the space station.
Chief astronaut Joe Acaba of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Houston made the decision to fly Hague. It was a delicate balancing act for Acaba to ensure that NASA kept an integrated crew with a Roscosmos cosmonaut who could handle their vital systems for continuing, safe station operations while also flying a crew member with previous spaceflight expertise to command the voyage.
"While we've changed crew before for a variety of reasons, downsizing crew for this flight was another tough decision to adjust to given that the crew has trained as a crew of four," Acaba said.
Everyone on board has been rock solid during mission preparation, and for that I am eternally grateful. Being professional astronauts is a description that fits Zena and Stephanie, who will keep helping their crewmates in the days leading up to launch.
The announcement said that the details of Cardman and Wilson's reassignment will be shared by the agency as soon as they are available.
With unwavering confidence, Nick and Alex will perform to the highest standards, and I am incredibly pleased of our entire crew," Cardman stated. Stephanie and I are eager to take to the skies when the moment is perfect, and the other three of us are just as committed to seeing this mission through to its successful conclusion.
Added Wilson, "I know Nick and Alex will do a great job with their work aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 72."
This will be the third launch and second mission to the orbiting laboratory for Hague, who has 203 days of space experience. An in-flight, post-launch abort, ballistic re-entry, and safe landing in their Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft occurred during Hague's first launch in October 2018, when he and Roscosmos' Alexey Ovchinin were aboard.
After waiting five months, Hague boarded the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft and acted as a flight engineer for the ISS on Expeditions 59 and 60. In order to install a docking adaptor for commercial spacecraft and update the electrical systems of the space station, Hague performed three spacewalks.
While serving as head of test and evaluation for the US Space Force from 2020 to 2022, Hague, who is currently an active-duty colonel, finished a developmental tour at the Defense Department. Prior to this flight assignment, Hague had returned to his job at NASA in August 2022, where he had been working on the Boeing Starliner Program.
Gorbunov has never been to space or the station before this mission. He received his engineering degree from the Moscow Aviation Institute and specialized in spacecraft and upper stages. He was born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk area, Russia.
Aircraft, helicopters, and engine maintenance and operation were Gorbunov's areas of expertise upon graduation from the military academy. He supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as an engineer for Rocket Space Corp. Energia before being selected as a cosmonaut in 2018, according to the release.
The station's Expedition 72 crew will welcome Hague and Gorbonov as new members. As we enter the station's 24th year of continuous human presence, they will join Wilmore, Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner in doing scientific research and maintenance tasks. Don Pettit, another NASA astronaut, will also be joining them.
