Successful Launch of SpaceX’s Crew-10 Mission

SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission has successfully launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03PM Eastern on March 14. The spacecraft is carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, who will join the International Space Station (ISS) crew after the spacecraft docks with the orbiting lab at 11:30PM Eastern time on March 15.

Background on the Mission

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the ISS for nine months, will finally return home thanks to the arrival of the new crew. They were initially supposed to stay on the ISS for only a week but had to extend their stay due to issues with the Boeing Starliner. The Starliner, which was on its first crewed flight, started leaking helium and experienced thruster malfunctions on its way to the station. Despite efforts to resolve the issue, NASA decided to have the Starliner return to Earth uncrewed. The spacecraft returned back to Earth in September, leaving Williams and Wilmore on the ISS.

Return Journey of Williams and Wilmore

Before the Starliner’s return, NASA had already planned for Williams and Wilmore to fly back with the SpaceX Crew-9 personnel. The Crew-9 mission had only two astronauts onboard, leaving two seats open for the return journey. Although they were initially scheduled to return in February, the launch of Crew-10 was delayed to allow SpaceX time to prepare a new Dragon spacecraft. Williams and Wilmore are now expected to fly back to Earth with Crew-9’s Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov as soon as March 19.