NASA Releases Details of its SpaceX Crew-9 Space Station Mission – NASA

As part of the NASA SpaceX Crew-9 mission, four crew members are getting ready to launch to the International Space Station and carry out a wide range of operational and research activities for the benefit of all.
The crew will travel to the space station on the Dragon spacecraft. The members include NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman, Pilot Nick Hague, and Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov, who are scheduled to join Expedition 71 and 72 crew members no earlier than August. They will arrive at the space station for a brief handover with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission.
This will be Cardman’s first spaceflight. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. Cardman has a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a master’s in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the time of her selection, she was pursuing a doctoral degree in geosciences. Her research focused on geobiology and geochemical cycling in subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. After completing her initial training, Cardman has been involved in supporting real-time station operations and development for lunar surface exploration.
Hague will be embarking on his third launch and his second mission to the orbiting laboratory. During his first launch in 2018, Hague and his crewmate, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, experienced a rocket booster failure resulting in an in-flight launch abort. The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft landed safely. Hague launched aboard Soyuz MS-12 and served as a flight engineer aboard the space station during Expeditions 59 and 60. Hague and his crewmates participated in hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science. Hague also conducted three spacewalks to upgrade space station power systems and install a docking adapter for commercial spacecraft. Hague is an active-duty colonel in the U.S. Space Force, and he completed a developmental rotation at the Defense Department in Washington, where he served as the USSF director of test and evaluation from 2020 to 2022. In August 2022, Hague resumed duties at NASA and worked on the Boeing Starliner Program until this flight assignment.
Wilson, a veteran of three spaceflights, STS-121, STS-120, and STS-131, has spent 42 days in space aboard three separate space shuttle Discovery missions. Before her selection as a NASA astronaut in 1996, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin, and worked at Martin Marietta and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. During her missions, Wilson undertook various tasks, such as spacecraft inspection, module installation, spacewalk support, and delivery of supplies to the space station. Throughout her nearly 30 years with NASA, Wilson served in various leadership roles, focusing on International Space Station systems and payload operations.
Gorbunov will be making his first trip to space and the station. Before being selected as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corporation Energia and supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
This is the ninth rotational mission to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The program works with the American aerospace industry to ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the orbital outpost on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.
For over two decades, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, making significant scientific discoveries and demonstrating new technologies. The station serves as a vital testing ground for NASA to understand the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. While commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations, NASA’s Artemis campaign is underway at the Moon as a step towards future human exploration of Mars.
More information on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found at:
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Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov

Author: OpenAI