SpaceX Crew-9 lifts off with Nick, Aleksandr and a ‘furry friend’ Aurora, Dragon to offer Sunita Williams ride back home

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission successfully launched from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday. Crew 9, the first human spaceflight mission to launch from pad 40, is now en route to the International Space Station.

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9 rocket in the second stage and now is flying on its own.

How long will it take to reach the ISS? "It is expected to take 28.5 hours for the spacecraft to autonomously dock to the space station at 5:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, September 29, while traveling 17,000 mph orbiting the Earth," NASA said in a statement on Saturday. This marks the first time a human spaceflight mission launched from the pad 40.

First two crewmembers to sign the White Room: Meanwhile, Crew-9's Commander Nick Hague and Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov became the first two crewmembers to sign the White Room at the end of the crew access arm at pad 40.

NASA said the White Room is an area at the end of the crew access arm that connects to the spacecraft – the term dates to the Gemini program and the white paint used on the room.

Nick, Aleksandr and a 'furry friend' Aurora? The Crew-9 mission launched with NASA astronaut and commander Nick Hague, Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov and their “furry friend” Aurora on board.

During his spaceflight on Saturday, Hague revealed the small plush baby falcon in the crew cabin of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft "Freedom."

That "furry friend" is a "Zero-G [Gravity] indicator". NASA describes a Zero gravity indicators as "small items carried aboard spacecraft that provide a visual indicator when a spacecraft has reached the weightlessness of microgravity". It's a tradition to bring a small object along by crews to serve as a “zero gravity indicator”. This time, Hague reused the one he had on his previous flights.

"I just so happen to have a furry friend with me", Nick said in space-to-ground communication as he reached the microgravity. “We got a Falcon on board...This one’s a multi-flyer, though, was on my first flight with Aleksey and I, and with Aleskey and I and Christina, and now me and Alex, so say hello to Aurora,” he added.

Dragon to offer Sunita Williams ride back home: Nick and Aleksandr launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and SpaceX Dragon ‘Endurance’ spacecraft. NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who reached the ISS on Boeing's Starliner, will return with Nick and Aleksandr on the SpaceX craft in February 2025.

By the time Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore return, the pair will have logged more than eight months in space. They expected to be gone just a week when they signed up for Boeing’s first astronaut flight that launched in June. However, technical issues with Starliner prompted NASA to bring back the Boeing spacecraft without its crew.

Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov will join Expedition 72 for a five-month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. Crew-9 will conduct over 200 scientific and technology demonstrations during their time on the space station, SpaceX said in a post on X.

"Dragon missions like Crew-9 and Polaris Dawn are important steps in building our future in space, enabling discoveries that can inform long-duration spaceflight missions as life becomes multiplanetary," Elon Musk's company added.

In total, Hague and Gorbunov will spend some five months on the ISS; Wilmore and Williams, eight months.