The SpaceX Crew-10 mission successfully lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 19:03 EST on March 14. On board are NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, who will join the ISS crew after the spacecraft docks with the orbiting laboratory at 11:30 a.m. EDT on March 15. The arrival of the new crew will allow NASA astronauts Suna Williams and Butch Wilmore to return home after their anticipated week-long stay on the ISS turned into a nine-month stay.
Williams and Wilmore flew to the ISS aboard a Boeing Starliner, which was supposed to prove its readiness to deliver astronauts to orbit as part of the first crewed flight to prove its readiness to transport astronauts. However, on the way to the station, the Starliner began to leak helium, and some of its engines failed. While the astronauts and ground engineers tried to solve the problem, NASA decided to send the Starliner home without the crew. The spacecraft returned to Earth in September, leaving Williams and Wilmore aboard the ISS.
Even before the Boeing Starliner flew back, NASA had already decided that Williams and Wilmore would return home with the SpaceX Crew-9 crew. The mission went to the station with two astronauts on board to leave two seats for the return. They were originally scheduled to fly back in February, but the launch of Crew 10 was delayed to give SpaceX enough time to prepare the new Dragon spacecraft for the mission. Williams and Wilmore are expected to return to Earth along with Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov from Crew 9 on March 19.
