NASA astronauts blast off on rescue mission to Space Station
The replacements for Nasa’s two stuck astronauts have launched to the International Space Station, paving the way for the pair’s return after nine months.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams need SpaceX to get the relief team to the space station before they can check out. Arrival is set for late Saturday night.
Nasa wants an overlap between the two crews so Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams can fill in the newcomers on happenings aboard the orbiting lab.
That would put them on course for an undocking next week and a splashdown off the Florida coast, weather permitting.
The duo will be escorted back by astronauts who flew up on a rescue mission on SpaceX last September alongside two empty seats reserved for Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams on the return leg.
Reaching orbit from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre, the newest crew includes Nasa’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots, and Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots.
They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint.
“Spaceflight is tough but humans are tougher,” Ms McClain said minutes into the flight.
As test pilots for Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams expected to be gone just a week or so when they launched from Cape Canaveral on June 5.
A series of helium leaks and thruster failures marred their trip to the space station, setting off months of investigation by Nasa and Boeing on how best to proceed.
Eventually ruling it unsafe, Nasa ordered Starliner to fly back empty last September and moved the astronauts to a SpaceX flight due back in February.
Their return was further delayed when SpaceX’s brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs before launching their replacements.
To save a few weeks, SpaceX switched to a used capsule, moving up Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams’ homecoming to mid-March.
Video credit: NASA/AP
Continue reading at Manchester Evening News:
The 10-day NASA mission that left astronauts 'stranded' in space for nine months
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co....
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