NASA removed two astronauts from its Crew-9 mission to allow for Williams and Wilmore to join the cohort, and return onboard the SpaceX Dragon − which carries four people at a time. The altered Crew-9 − only Hague and Gorbunov − launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom in late September.

An eight-day mission for two astronauts to the International Space Station turned into nine months. NASA crews work to prepare for unforeseen events like this.

Crew-10 astronauts will board SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to International Space Station, which sets up the return to Earth of Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams