NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov arrived at Kennedy Space Center for their upcoming mission.
They were welcomed by NASA leaders and are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The preparations include quarantine, mission rehearsals, and alignment of sleep cycles with mission requirements.
Arrival and Welcome Ceremony
NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, arrived at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, September 21.
NASA leaders greeted the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 at 1:30 p.m. EDT for a brief welcome ceremony with the following participants:
- Kelvin Manning, deputy director, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
- Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
- NASA astronaut Nick Hague
- Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov
Pre-Launch Preparations
Hague and Gorbunov will quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy. While there, they’ll conduct a dry dress rehearsal of the mission, sleep shift to align their resting and waking periods with mission requirements, rehearse flight procedures, as well as make calls to family and friends.
The crew is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station at 2:05 p.m. EDT on Thursday, September 26, from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.