SpaceX launched two new crew members to the International Space Station on Saturday, in a capsule that will eventually bring home two NASA astronauts who flew to orbit on Boeing’s problem-plagued Starliner spacecraft.SpaceX’s Crew Dragon lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday afternoon from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The flight, known as Crew-9, carries NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.The duo will join five other astronauts and cosmonauts already onboard the orbiting lab, rounding out the Expedition 72 crew. SpaceX Crew-9 cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Hague during a welcome ceremony at Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 21 in Cape Canaveral, Fla.Hague and Gorbunov are expected to remain at the space station until February. On their return flight back to Earth, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will ride with them.Wilmore and Williams launched to the orbiting outpost on Boeing’s Starliner capsule in early June — the spacecraft’s first crewed test flight. They were initially expected to stay on the ISS for around eight days, but Starliner suffered helium leaks and problems with some of its thrusters.After numerous delays, NASA opted to keep the two astronauts at the space station. The Boeing capsule, meanwhile, returned to Earth on Sept. 7 without any humans on board.Originally, the Crew-9 flight was supposed to carry four crew members to the space station, but in order to leave seats open for Wilmore and Williams, two NASA astronauts will have to wait for a future launch. Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore at Space Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on June 5.Before Saturday’s liftoff, NASA had been forced to delay the Crew-9 launch several times, including most recently because of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region late Thursday as a Category 4 storm. Helene has since weakened but has lashed much of the Southeast with strong winds and heavy rain, causing widespread flooding.Earlier this week, NASA said weather officials had predicted a 55% chance of favorable weather conditions for Saturday’s launch.This article was originally published on NBCNews.com …
