‘Smooth ride up here’: SpaceX Crew 9 arrives at ISS to escort Sunita Williams to Earth | Watch video

Sunita Williams rescue mission: The Space X Crew 9 mission arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), on Sunday. As they stepped aboard, they were greeted by the Expedition 72 crew, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. SpaceX will bring back the astronauts in 2025.

Astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov got a warm welcome from Sunita Williams. In a visual released by NASA's Johnson Space Centre, the Space X Crew 9 and other astronauts can be seen as Sunita Williams thanks them.

‘Smooth ride’

“Alex and I had a smooth ride up here,” said Nick Hague, while thanking the teams that got the Space X Crew 9 mission ready to take off. Hague and Gorbunov entered the ISS after opening the hatch between the space station and the pressurised mating adapter at 7:04 p.m. EDT before opening the hatch to Dragon, NASA said in a statement, ANI reported.

NASA also posted on X, that the SpaceX crew would spend five months at the ISS, for conducting research.

The Space X Crew 9 mission were welcomed by the ISS's Expedition 72 crew, including NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, Don Petitt, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner.

Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore in ISS

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June. Launched on June 5 in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, it marked the first crewed mission. It arrived at the space station on June 6. In August, NASA determined that it would be "too risky" to bring the astronauts back, leading to the decision to return Starliner to Earth without its crew. The spacecraft successfully landed on September 6.

Williams and Wilmore continued their duties as part of the expedition, with now plans to return them to Earth in February 2025. What was initially intended to be a week-long test flight has now been extended to approximately eight months.

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(With inputs from agencies)