NASA and SpaceX on Friday launched a long-awaited crew to the International Space Station that opens the door to bringing home U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab for nine months.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. ET (2303 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying four astronauts who will replace Wilmore and Williams, both of whom are veteran NASA astronauts and retired U.S. Navy test pilots and were the first to fly Boeing's faulty Starliner capsule to the ISS in June.
Otherwise a routine crew rotation flight, Friday's Crew-10 mission is a long-awaited first step to bring the astronaut duo back to Earth - part of a plan set by NASA last year that more recently has been given greater urgency by President Donald Trump.
The Crew-10 launch occurred as Wilmore and Williams were asleep in their daily schedule on the station, Dina Contellam deputy manager of NASA's ISS program, told reporters after the launch.
After the Crew-10 astronauts' ISS arrival on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET, Wilmore and Williams are scheduled to depart on Wednesday as early as 4 a.m. ET (0800 GMT) on Sunday, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague and Gorbunov flew to the ISS in September on a Crew Dragon craft with two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams.
The Crew-10 crew, which will stay on the station for roughly six months, includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
PLANNING FOR THE UNEXPECTED
Minutes after reaching orbit, McClain, part of NASA's astronaut corps since 2013, introduced the mission's microgravity indicator - per tradition in American spaceflight to signal the crew safely reached space - as a plush origami crane, "the international symbol for peace, hope and healing."
"It is far easier to be enemies than it is to be friends, it's easier to break partnerships and relationships than it is to build them," McClain, the Crew-10 mission commander, said from the Crew Dragon capsule, her communications live-streamed by NASA.
"Spaceflight is hard, and success depends on leaders of character who choose a harder right over the easier wrong, and who build programs, partnerships and relationships. We explore for the benefit of all," she said.
The mission became entangled in politics as Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, who is also SpaceX's CEO, urged a quicker Crew-10 launch and claimed, without evidence, that former President Joe Biden had abandoned Wilmore and Williams on the station for political reasons.
"We came prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short," Wilmore told reporters from space earlier this month, adding that he did not believe NASA's decision to keep them on the ISS until Crew-10's arrival had been affected by politics.
"That's what your nation's human spaceflight program's all about," he said, "planning for unknown, unexpected contingencies. And we did that."
The Crew-10 mission is part of a normal crew rotation happening at an unusual time for NASA's ISS operations - rather than a dedicated mission to retrieve Wilmore and Williams, who will return to Earth as late additions to NASA's Crew-9 crew.
Musk says SpaceX had offered a dedicated Dragon mission for the pair last year as NASA mulled ways to bring the two back to Earth.
But NASA officials have said the two astronauts have had to remain on the ISS to maintain adequate staffing levels, and that it did not have the budget or the operational need to send a dedicated rescue spacecraft.
Having seen their mission turn into a normal NASA rotation to the ISS, Wilmore and Williams have been doing scientific research and conducting routine maintenance with the other five astronauts.
Williams told reporters earlier this month that she was looking forward to returning home to see her two dogs and family. "It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us," she said.
"UNUSUAL" MISSION PREPARATIONS
Trump and Musk's demand for an earlier return for Wilmore and Williams was an unusual intervention into NASA operations. The agency later brought forward the Crew-10 mission from March 26, swapping a delayed SpaceX capsule for one that would be ready sooner.
The pressure from Musk and Trump has hung over a NASA preparation and safety process that normally follows a well-defined course.
NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stich, said preparing for the mission had been an "unusual flow in many respects."
The agency had to address some "late-breaking" issues, NASA space operations chief Ken Bowersox told reporters, including investigating a fuel leak on a recent SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and deterioration of a coating on some of the Dragon crew capsule's thrusters.
Bowersox said it was hard for NASA to keep up with SpaceX: "We're not quite as agile as they are, but we're working well together."
Five Azerbaijani crew members were killed and three others injured after two cargo vessels were hit in a drone attack in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan's...
The U.S. said it struck Iranian radar sites on Qeshm Island and in Goruk after intercepting four drones, while Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they l...
The United States has announced an additional $38 million to support efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as hea...
Armenians will vote on Sunday in a parliamentary election that will determine whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan secures a new mandate to pursue ...
More than 6,000 people gathered outside a vote-counting centre in Seoul on Friday night, demanding this week’s local elections be repeated after bal...
Five astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were instructed to take shelter and prepare for a possible evacuation on Friday after an air leak in the Russian segment of the orbital outpost worsened, according to NASA.
NASA has revealed the next phase of its plan to build a permanent base on the Moon, outlining the vehicles, robotic landers and hopping drones it intends to send as part of the project.
China will send an astronaut to its space station on Sunday for a one-year mission, the longest duration for the country so far. The mission will help study long-duration human physiology in space as China works toward a crewed Moon landing by 2030.
NASA’s Artemis II crew has returned safely to Earth after completing a landmark journey around the Moon, marking the first crewed lunar mission in more than half a century.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said in a statement that its Aerospace Force did not strike the Kuwait Airport passenger terminal on Wednesday, and that the destruction was instead caused by a failed U.S. Patriot missile.
Five Azerbaijani crew members were killed and three others injured after two cargo vessels were hit in a drone attack in the Sea of Azov, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on Friday, as Russia blamed Ukraine for the strike.
The new AnewZ documentary, TARGET: Yerevan, builds its explosive case on exclusive, secret recordings originally published by Minval Politika.
Azerbaijan has strongly rejected allegations published by CNN claiming that its territory was used for Israeli military and intelligence operations against Iran, describing the report as entirely baseless and demanding a retraction.
Armenia will hold parliamentary elections on 7 June 2026, a vote that will shape the country’s political direction for the next five years. Understanding how the electoral system converts votes into parliamentary power is key to following the outcome and its wider regional implications.
People across Gaza are facing a worsening humanitarian crisis, with millions struggling to access food, clean water, shelter and medical care as the conflict continues.
The United States has announced an additional $38 million to support efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as health officials warn that the virus could spread further without stronger action.
More than 6,000 people gathered outside a vote-counting centre in Seoul on Friday night, demanding this week’s local elections be repeated after ballot shortages left some voters unable to cast their ballots.
The next time a goal goes in during a Champions League final, fans around the world could watch it from every angle at once — frozen, rotated and replayed in ways that were impossible only a few years ago.
An ageing, poorly insured shadow armada now accounts for around one-sixth of the world's tanker fleet. Hidden by design and fraught with risk, it operates beyond conventional oversight. A maritime law expert explains how it works, who profits, and why much of the world looks the other way.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment