SpaceX Crew-9 Crew Dragon Undocking
Photo Credit: NASA
- Date:
- Location: International Space Station
- Type: Spacecraft Undocking
The Crew-9 Crew Dragon will undock from the International Space Station, carrying four astronauts. It will then reenter the Earth's atmosphere and splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico.
After undocking, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will begin their return journey to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Their mission to the International Space Station (ISS) began aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which launched them from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas V rocket. This historic flight marked Starliner’s first crewed mission, but technical issues arose during their stay, preventing a safe return on the same vehicle. To ensure their secure return, NASA arranged for them to come back aboard Crew Dragon, a proven spacecraft with a successful track record in human spaceflight.
During their extended stay on the ISS, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams played vital roles in station operations, scientific research, and hardware maintenance. They worked on cutting-edge experiments studying microgravity’s effects on human biology, advanced materials, and robotics—critical for future deep-space exploration. Their contributions also included spacewalks and station upgrades to maintain the health and functionality of the orbiting laboratory. Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, who have been aboard the ISS for an extended-duration mission, will join them on their journey home.
For their return, Crew Dragon will perform a series of departure burns to move away from the ISS before executing a deorbit burn to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft will endure extreme heat during reentry, with its heat shield protecting the crew. As they descend, parachutes will deploy in stages, slowing the capsule for a controlled splashdown in either the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico. SpaceX recovery teams will be standing by to retrieve the crew and assist them in readjusting to Earth’s gravity after their long-duration mission in space.
Event Videos
Related Launch
Agencies
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- SpaceX (SpX)
Programs
Human Spaceflight: Commercial Crew Program
The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is a human spaceflight program operated by NASA, in association with American aerospace manufacturers Boeing and SpaceX. The program conducts rotations between the expeditions of the International Space Station program, transporting crews to and from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules, in the first crewed orbital spaceflights operated by private companies.
Human Spaceflight: International Space Station
The International Space Station programme is tied together by a complex set of legal, political and financial agreements between the sixteen nations involved in the project, governing ownership of the various components, rights to crewing and utilization, and responsibilities for crew rotation and resupply of the International Space Station. It was conceived in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan, during the Space Station Freedom project as it was originally called.
Last Updated:
