NASA Sends Crew to Retrieve Stranded Astronauts

Astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station to rescue two colleagues who have been stranded there for more than 100 days. The SpaceX mission took off Saturday afternoon from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, CNN reports. Liftoff had been postponed on Thursday because of Hurricane Helene. Two crew members originally scheduled for the mission were pulled to leave empty seats for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on the return leg, per ABC News. The Crew-9 Dragon also has extra spacesuits for them.

Williams and Wilmore, whose return from space in September was delayed because of safety concerns about the Boeing-built Starliner capsule, aren't scheduled to travel to Earth until February. Officials said there wasn't a way to bring them back earlier on SpaceX without interrupting other scheduled missions, per the AP. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are on the mission, while NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson and Zena Cardman were left behind. Just before liftoff, Hague honored his disappointed colleagues, saying, "We did it together." A short time later, Hague pronounced trip so far a "sweet ride." (More NASA stories.)