SpaceX has deployed Crew-10 to make the return journey of NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore possible.
The crew of astronauts will take over the duties of the duo on the International Space Station (ISS), allowing them to return home as their days-long journey turned into nine-month trip.
As reported by CNN, the crew-10 mission, part of a routine staff rotation jointly operated by NASA and SpaceX, took off at 7:03 p.m. ET on Friday, March 14 from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
A SpaceX Dragon capsule, mounted on one of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets, carried the four Crew-10 astronauts, NASA’s Anne McClain, and Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov to orbit.
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The Crew-10 members are expected to dock with the space station around 11:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
After they aligned with the station, the four astronauts will spend some days undergoing a "handover" period with Williams, Wilmore and their Crew-9 squad, NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The Crew-9 capsule has been stationed since September, and if all goes accordingly then the Wilmore and Williams along with Hague and Gorbunov will climb aboard the spacecraft and head back to Earth on March 19, 2025.
Acting NASA administrator Janet Petro shares during the launch webcast that she has spoken to the space crew a week ago, noting, "Every time you get to go to space – which is what all astronauts want to do – you never know it might be your last time, because you might not be selected for another mission."
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"So I bet they have mixed emotions leaving their colleagues up there at the space station. I’m sure they’re anxious to get home and put their feet on Earth and spend time with their family – but I think that they have enjoyed their time in space," Petro added.
Notably, after the Crew-10 get familiarised with their duties, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will kick off their return journey to their homes.
