The Crew Nine Commemorative - A Commercial Crew Success Story As we all know the Starliner CFT crew of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who lunched in June 2024 remained aboard the ISS out of an abundance of caution while their spacecraft safely returned to Earth without them. The revised Crew Nine launch of astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov is NOT a "rescue" but an adjustment to crew assignments driven by crew safety. The fact that Butch and Suni are former ISS commanders increases the experience base to this Crew Nine mission. This is exactly the reason why NASA funded two companies for the Commercial Crew Program. This patch celebrates that foresight and redundant capability. The central feature is the ISS orbiting above the Earth. A SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches to dock. The "Draco" (the Dragon) constellation is at the top of the center illustration. Two stars rise above the Earth on the left by Hague and Gorbunov surnames and four stars descend on the right by Wilmore and Williams surnames. The rope border honors the US Navy astronauts Wilmore and Williams. The Commercial Crew program star is at the top border and the Astronaut Pin is at the bottom. The ISS increment numbers (71 and 72) bracket the CREW NINE designation. The re-entering Starliner is at the left. The launch streak inspired by the official Crew Nine patch is on the right. Tim Gagnon Approximately 4"x4.5"
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