CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — The U.S. space agency announced on Friday that one NASA astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut have been named for the Crew-9 mission, which will see the return of Boeing’s Starliner crewmembers.

All eyes have been on the Crew-9 mission after NASA confirmed last weekend that it would be changing the crew roster to allow space for Boeing Crew Flight Test mission crewmembers astronauts Cmdr. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams.

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft, on its first crewed maiden mission, has faced a number of challenges from helium leaks to faulty issues with the service module’s five aft reaction control system thrusters.

What was supposed to be about an eight-to-10-day mission that took off in June to the International Space Station has turned into a months-long journey that is expected to end in February 2025, stated NASA.

NASA stated it was not safe to bring Wilmore and Williams home on the Starliner space capsule. So they will be returning on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.

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“NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, previously announced as crewmates, are eligible for reassignment on a future mission,” NASA stated in a press release.

NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba was the one who finally decided which two astronauts would be members of the Crew-9 mission, opting to have Hague who has experience being on the ISS, and Gorbunov, who will be going to space for the first time and will be a mission specalist as he will maintain an integrated crew who help with operating critical systems on the floating laboratory, the space agency explained.

“While we’ve changed crew before for a variety of reasons, downsizing crew for this flight was another tough decision to adjust to given that the crew has trained as a crew of four,” stated Acaba in the press release. “I have the utmost confidence in all our crew, who have been excellent throughout training for the mission. Zena and Stephanie will continue to assist their crewmates ahead of launch, and they exemplify what it means to be a professional astronaut.”