The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday's arrival of a SpaceX capsule. SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with a downsized crew of two astronauts and two empty seats reserved for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return next year, per the AP. The Dragon capsule docked in darkness as the two craft soared 265 miles above Botswana.
The Dragon carrying NASA's Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency's Alexander Gorbunov will remain at the space station until February, turning what should have been a weeklong trip for Wilmore and Williams into a mission lasting more than eight months. The latter two traveled to the ISS in the Boeing Starliner capsule, but NASA deemed it too risky for the pair to return to Earth in the same craft.
Meanwhile, Starliner inspections are underway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, with post-flight reviews of data set to begin this week. "We're a long way from saying, 'Hey, we're writing off Boeing,'" NASA's associate administrator Jim Free said at a pre-launch briefing.
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