In order to allow two astronauts to return to the ISS in February, NASA decided to send two people to the SpaceX mission instead of four.
The agency decided to send the Starliner capsule, which was piloted by former NASA astronauts Suni Williams and David Wilmore, back to Earth after it suffered various technical issues.
In September, Russia’s Gorbunov and Hague, who are NASA astronauts, are scheduled to launch for the ISS.
To make room for Wilmore and Williams, two astronauts were removed from the mission.
NASA noted that Wilson and Cardman would be eligible for future assignments.
Joe Acaba, NASA’s chief astronaut, made the decision to allow Hague to join the mission, as per a statement released by the agency.
As the mission’s commander, Acaba had to balance the need to maintain an operational partnership with Russia’s Roscosmos while ensuring that the ISS would continue to operate safely.
He noted that it was a challenging decision to make since the crew had already trained as a four-member unit.
I am confident in the crew’s abilities and have full confidence in their ability to carry out their duties.
Both of them, Zena and Stephanie, will continue to provide valuable support to the crew as they prepare for their launch.
The US used to rely on Russia to send people to the ISS after the Space Shuttle program was stopped in 2011.
The incident happened following the Columbia disaster, which killed all seven astronauts.
SpaceX started sending people to the ISS using its rockets in 2020.
In a statement, Cardman praised the crew and said that he was confident that Alex and Nick would perform well in their roles.
The four of us are committed to completing this mission successfully. We look forward to welcoming Alex and Nick to the ISS aboard Expedition 72.
Wilson also praised the pair and noted that they would perform a great job.
Hague, who is an active-duty officer in the US Space Force, has already launched three times.
In 2018, Gorbunov and a cosmonaut were able to successfully make a safe reentry after their rocket booster failed.
This will be his first trip to space.