'I think it was hard not to watch that rocket lift off without thinking, that's my rocket and that's my crew.' How the NASA astronauts bumped from SpaceX's Crew-9 watched their ride launch without them

Two astronauts who were supposed to be in space right now say they are still glad to be part of the ground team.

Until recently, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were assigned to SpaceX's Crew-9 mission. But their Crew Dragon spacecraft left without them on Saturday (Sept. 28) after their seats had to be reassigned in August to bring home two other NASA astronauts currently living on the International Space Station (ISS).

"I think it was hard not to watch that rocket lift off without thinking, 'That's my rocket and that's my crew,'" Cardman said during the launch broadcast on NASA+, formerly NASA Television, of the Crew-9 astronauts who did leave Earth: NASA's Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. 

"It makes me feel very connected to this mission," Cardman added.

Wilson, speaking during the same broadcast, emphasized that astronauts are always working for the same team no matter if they are in space or on the ground. "We, of course, want to be together," she said of Crew-9. "We have built friendship and camaraderie … but I'm very excited for them [Hague and Gorbunov], looking forward to hearing their stories from space."

Related: SpaceX's Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft arrives at ISS to help bring Starliner astronauts home (video)

Crew Dragon went to space with two mass simulators in Cardman's and Wilson's former seats. When Crew-9 wraps up in February 2025, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will occupy those spots. Williams and Wilson were left without their expected ride home after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth autonomously on Sept. 7.

Starliner launched to space without major incident, but docking with the ISS on June 6 was problematic. Issues with the propulsion system on Starliner delayed the spacecraft's arrival to the ISS during its first-ever mission with astronauts. Two months of troubleshooting followed, but NASA said the risk remained too high to bring Starliner home with the crew. So Crew-9 was modified to accommodate Williams and Wilmore on the return trip.

Cardman praised NASA for taking the time to "prioritize the safety of the crew," even though Starliner's uncrewed return to Earth was deemed safe enough, after the fact, to have brought home the NASA pair. As for Williams' and Wilmore's unexpected ISS extension from a few days to eight months: "Butch and Suni are professionals who are well prepared. They are previous flyers who have spent time on the space station before, so they're doing great work on board."

Wilson and Cardman remain eligible for future NASA spaceflights.