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NASA delays Crew Dragon mission with Russian cosmonaut aboard by one day

Alexander Gorbunov and his launch partner, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, will arrive at Cape Canaveral launch facility in Florida to spend the next two weeks in routine preflight quarantine

WASHINGTON, September 13. /TASS/. The launch of the Crew Dragon manned spacecraft with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, previously scheduled for September 24, has been postponed by at least one day, NASA said on its website.

"NASA and SpaceX have shifted the Crew-9 launch to no earlier than Wednesday, Sept. 25, to complete prelaunch preparations and ensure separation between operations," the US space agency said.

Gorbunov and his launch partner, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, will arrive at Cape Canaveral launch facility in Florida to spend the next two weeks in routine preflight quarantine.

Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said on September 12 that Russia’s state-run space corporation Roscosmos and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States will continue their work aimed at taking the astronauts and cosmonauts to and the from the International Space Station (ISS) on each other's spacecraft.

In July 2022, Roscosmos and NASA signed a seat-swap agreement allowing Russian cosmonauts to fly to the ISS on US spacecraft and US astronauts to travel aboard Russian spaceships. The agreement makes sure that there always is at least one Russian cosmonaut and one NASA astronaut aboard the ISS to serve its Russian and US segments. News came in December 2023 that Roscosmos and NASA planned to continue cross-flights until 2025 inclusive.

The head of NASA’s manned spaceflight directorate, Ken Bowersox, told TASS last Sunday that the Russian and US space agencies are working to extend their seat swap program.

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