In a major achievement for NASA, the SpaceX Crew-10 mission docked safely at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, March 16, following a 29-hour flight. The mission will enable the return of stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to Earth.
Launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 PM ET on Friday, March 14, the Dragon spacecraft docked at the ISS at 12:04 AM on March 16. The Dragon hatch opened at 1:35 AM ET, and Crew-10 members entered the space station and joined their fellow astronauts.
The crew of Crew-10 consists of NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. They will now become part of the Expedition 72 crew that also consists of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, and Don Pettit, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Ivan Vagner, and Alexey Ovchinin. With this addition, the number of crew members on board the ISS now totals 11.
The Crew-10 members will assume responsibilities from the returning astronauts, preparing for a stay of approximately six months on the space station. Following the crew handover, Williams and Wilmore are set to return to Earth alongside Hague and Gorbunov.
“Houston, thanks for tuning in early morning. Great to see our friends arrive,” remarked Sunita Williams during the Crew-10’s arrival.
The astronauts will leave the ISS for Earth on Wednesday, March 19, with a planned launch time of 8 AM ET.
What was originally designed to be a 10-day space mission ended up being an almost 10-month journey for Williams and Wilmore after they were left stranded on the ISS. The two initially flew to space aboard the Boeing Starliner on June 5, 2024, but were held back by malfunctioning thrusters during their docking process, unable to return.
After NASA and Boeing conducted an extensive investigation, the spacecraft was found to be unsafe for the return of the astronauts, necessitating their prolonged stay on board the ISS.
