SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with a downsized crew of two astronauts and two empty seats reserved for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return next year. The Dragon capsule docked in darkness as the two craft soared 265 miles (426 kilometers) above Botswana.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 commander Nick Hague is pictured in his flight suit during training at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Hague will

Lifted by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, two astronauts left Earth on Saturday afternoon, headed to the International Space Station. Such launches, taking a new complement of crew to the space station every six months or so,

Two astronauts at the International Space Station since June received a new ride home with the arrival of a SpaceX capsule. NASA switched Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to SpaceX due to safety concerns with their Boeing Starliner capsule.

NASA decided using the Boeing Starliner capsule to bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth was too risky following a string of technical glitches on their outwards journey. View on euronew