Prior to launch, NASA's Crew-9 looks different: a crew of two on SpaceX Dragon

When NASA astronauts launch to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon , there's usually a crew of four onboard. Not this time.

Assuming Hurricane Helene's impact on the Space Coast was minimal and the weather clears , NASA and SpaceX are targeting a 1:17 p.m. EDT. Saturday launch attempt from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida . Onboard the Dragon will be just two Crew-9 astronauts. They'll join two crewmates who are already on the station: the Boeing Starliner astronauts who had to abandon plans to return on their troubled spacecraft .

This meant NASA had a tough decision to make. Since the problem-plagued Starliner had to return uncrewed on Sept. 7, NASA needed to find another way to get Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams home. The decision was made to put them on Crew-9 so they could return on the Dragon in February. But that meant two of the already named four Crew-9 astronauts — NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson — needed to be bumped off the mission as the SpaceX Dragon has a limited number of astronauts it is certified to carry.

Now, only NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will be on the SpaceX Dragon for Saturday's launch. They'll meet up with crewmates Williams and Wilmore at the orbiting space station. The Crew-9 mission is expected to last into February 2025.

When is the next Florida launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, Blue Origin rocket launch schedule from Florida

NASA Crew-9: Who is launching on the SpaceX Dragon?

NASA astronaut Nick Hague

Originally from Belleville, Kansas, Hague had his sights set on the sky above. After joining the Air Force, he earned his Bachelor of Science in astronautical engineering in 1998 from the United States Air Force Academy. Afterwards, he continued his education by obtaining his Master of Science in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 2000 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was in 2013 that Hague was selected by NASA as an astronaut .

Hague had an eventful start to his astronaut career. In 2018, he was set to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz to the International Space Station as part of the Soyuz MS-10 mission. However, two minutes after liftoff, the rocket suffered a malfunction during stage separation. As a result, the Soyuz spacecraft experienced an abort, detaching from the rocket and parachuting back to Earth.

A year later, Hague finally flew on his first mission to the International Space Station, Soyuz MS-12. Hague's mission lasted 203 days.

Following his return, he served in the Space Force as the Director of Test and Evaluation at The Pentagon in Washington. Yet he wasn't finished with NASA, as he returned to the space agency in 2022 to work on a support team for the Boeing Starliner Program, which ultimately ended up flying Williams and Wilmore on the test flight.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov

Gorbunov is from the Kursk region of Russia and this is his first flight to space as a cosmonaut. Gorbunov's educational background is in engineering with a specialty in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute. He graduated with a specialization in maintenance and operation of aircrafts.

Gorbunov worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corporation Energia supporting cargo spacecraft launches. In 2018, Gorbunov was selected as a cosmonaut.

Why is a cosmonaut flying on Dragon amid troubled U.S.-Russia relations

Despite troubled political relations with Russia due to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the international space cooperation between NASA and Russia's Roscosmos continues. Both NASA and Roscosmos continuously keep crew onboard the International Space Station.

"Integrated crews have been the norm throughout the International Space Station Program in order to maintain safe operation of the space station," said Sandra Jones from NASA's public affairs office. "Five space agencies (the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA, and Roscosmos) operate the station, with each space agency responsible for managing and controlling the hardware it provides. The station was designed to be interdependent and relies on contributions from each space agency to function."

"No one agency has the capability to function independent of the others. The integrated crew flights are conducted on a no-exchange-of-funds basis that include transportation to and from the International Space Station and comprehensive mission support, including all necessary training and preparation for launch, flight operations, landing and crew rescue services."

Who are the Crew-9 astronauts already on the ISS

Sunita Williams

Williams was first assigned to STS-116, which launched on Space Shuttle Discovery in late 2006. It was a six month stay onboard the International Space Station. Her second spaceflight came in July 2012 when she launched from Kazakhstan in a Soyuz spacecraft. After that 127-day visit to space, she had accumulated a total of 322 days spent off the planet before her latest journey.

She launched on Starliner in June, and now has taken command of the space station.

Williams and Wilmore join Crew-9: Meet the NASA astronauts who flew on Boeing Starliner

Barry 'Butch' Wilmore

Wilmore, who launched on the Starliner with Williams, was selected by NASA for the astronaut corps in 2000, and has since flown to space twice, spending a combined total of 178 days off Earth before his Starliner journey. Wilmore piloted Space Shuttle Atlantis during STS-129 in 2009, spending 10 days on the ISS. He later flew again in 2014, this time on a Soyuz during Expedition 41 and 42. During that mission, which landed in early 2015, he spent 167 days in space.

NASA astronauts removed from Crew-9

Zena Cardman

A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, Cardman went on to receive her Master’s of Science in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017 , and is awaiting a flight assignment after being taken off Crew-9.

Stephanie Wilson

Wilson holds a Master's of Science in Aerospace Engineering from University of Texas, Austin. Wilson has three prior spaceflights under her belt . Having flown on three space shuttle missions, she accumulated over 42 days in space.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars .

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Prior to launch, NASA's Crew-9 looks different: a crew of two on SpaceX Dragon