SpaceX’s Crew-10 spacecraft, operated by Elon Musk’s company, has successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft docked with the ISS on Sunday morning (March 16). It took approximately an hour to open its hatch. Two American astronauts are set to return to Earth on this spacecraft.
The Crew-10 was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Saturday morning. It successfully docked with the ISS at 9:05 AM on Sunday. NASA confirmed that the entire process was completed safely.
Returning Astronauts
The spacecraft will bring back Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams and her companion Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded in space for nine months.
Crew-10 Astronauts
The Crew-10 mission carried four astronauts to the ISS:
Anne McClain (NASA)
Nichole Ayers (NASA)
Takuya Onishi (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency – JAXA)
Kirill Peskov (Russian space agency Roscosmos)
Once their mission is complete, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will take their places aboard the returning spacecraft.
NASA’s Safety Measures
NASA clarified that after docking, the hatch is not opened immediately. Safety and pressure tests are conducted, which take about an hour. The Crew-10 hatch is expected to open at 10:05 AM on Sunday, allowing the new astronauts to enter the station.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, will board the spacecraft for their return to Earth around 11:00 AM.
The spacecraft is scheduled to depart for Earth on Wednesday at 1:00 PM.
Why Were Sunita and Butch Stranded in Space?
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore launched into space in June last year aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Their return was originally planned just eight days later, but a technical issue was discovered in the Starliner.
Due to this malfunction, NASA deemed the return unsafe and decided not to bring them back on that spacecraft. As a result, they remained stranded in space for nine months instead of the planned eight days.
Now, with the successful arrival of Crew-10, they are expected to safely return to Earth next week.