Two NASA astronauts who had been heading to space for a long time were left behind when a SpaceX rocket lifted off without them on Saturday, so their stranded colleagues could take their empty seats and return to Earth.
Astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were forced to give up their seats to fellow space travelers Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams, who were stranded on the International Space Station when their Boeing Starliner spacecraft experienced multiple problems and returned home without them due to safety concerns.
Zena Cardman (far left) and Stephanie Wilson (second right) had to give up their seats so stranded colleagues could return to their empty seats. AFP via Getty Images The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft is launched to the International Space Station on September 28, 2024. NASA via Getty Images
“I think it was hard not to watch this rocket lift off and not think, ‘This is my rocket and this is my crew,’” Cardman said during a NASA broadcast of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, according to Space.com.
Two crew members, NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov, left aboard the rocket for the rescue mission without fellow planners Cardman and Wilson.
Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck on the International Space Station since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they arrived on was deemed unsafe to return to. NASA TV/AFP via Getty Images
Even without going to the International Space Station — which would have been Cardman’s first visit — she said she was still happy to be part of the team.
“It makes me feel very connected to this mission,” she said.
“It was hard not to watch that rocket take off and not think, ‘This is my rocket and this is my crew,'” Cardman said. AFP via Getty Images This photo shows Hague (left) walking with Gorbunov (right) to the launch tower. Zomapress.com
Wilson also expressed her desire for the four-person crew to go into space together.
“We of course want to be together,” she said during the broadcast. “We’ve built friendship and camaraderie…but I’m so excited for them [Hague and Gorbunov]We look forward to hearing their stories from space.”
Without Cardman and Wilson on the journey to the ISS, the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s weight balance was thrown off.
The crew boarded with two mass simulators in their seats that will be replaced by stranded NASA astronauts Willmore and Williams on the return flight in February.
The two were expected to stay on the International Space Station for only a few days, but their full visit will now last eight months due to problems with the Boeing spacecraft.
