NASA Astronaut Nick Hague and Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov successfully docked at the orbiting facility on Sunday to rescue Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024. The Crew Dragon capsule was successfully launched on Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Hague and Gorbunov were warmly welcomed by the Expedition 72 crew, which counts astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Don Pettit, Williams, Wilmore, as well as three cosmonauts from Roscosmos. In a post on X, NASA wrote, “Our Crew 9 mission arrives at ISS. Docking of their SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft is expected at 5:30 pm ET (2130 UTC), with the hatch opening at approximately 7:15 pm ET (2315 UTC).”

NASA’s Johnson Space Center celebrated the moment on X, stating “Official welcome! Crew 9, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the Crew 9 mission specialist was welcomed by the Expedition 72 crew.”

American Astronaut Sunita Williams welcomed the Dragon crew and said, “I just want to welcome our new compadres.”

According to NASA, Wilmore and Williams will continue to work as a part of the Expedition 71/72 crew until February 2025. They are scheduled to return home on a Dragon spacecraft as part of a crew assigned to NASA’s Crew-9 mission. The Starliner is expected to undock from the space station and land safely in early September.