SpaceX Crew-10 mission to enable return of stranded Starliner Astronauts
Alona Yadav | Mar 12, 2025, 00:11 IST
( Image credit : AP )
SpaceX's upcoming Crew-10 mission, set to launch from Kennedy Space Center, will enable the much-awaited return of Boeing Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been aboard the ISS since June. The new crew's arrival will allow the stranded astronauts, along with Crew-9, to return to Earth, resolving the Starliner issue.
An upcoming SpaceX launch to the International Space Station will finally pave the way for the long-delayed return of Boeing Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been unexpectedly stationed in orbit since June.
The SpaceX Crew-10 mission, scheduled to launch as early as Wednesday at 7:48 p.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, represents a critical step in resolving the Starliner saga. Once the new crew arrives at the space station, Williams and Wilmore could return to Earth as soon as Sunday, March 16, according to a NASA spokesperson.
"We're ready to high-five them, bring them home," said NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Crew-10's mission commander, during a media briefing on Friday.
The Starliner astronauts have remained aboard the space station since their arrival after NASA determined that Boeing's troubled spacecraft wasn't suitable for transporting them back to Earth. Instead, they were integrated into the Crew-9 mission, which arrived in September aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Their return has been delayed for two key reasons: Crew-9 needed to complete their six-month mission, and NASA protocol requires waiting for the successor crew to arrive before departure.
Crew-10 Mission Details
Crew-10 represents SpaceX's tenth science rotation mission to the ISS under NASA's commercial crew program. The program allows NASA to contract with private companies like SpaceX to transport astronauts and cargo to orbit, freeing the agency to focus on its Artemis lunar program and future Mars missions.
The mission will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a previously flown Dragon capsule named Endurance. This represents a change from earlier plans, which called for a new Dragon capsule and a later launch date in March.
The Boeing Starliner was intended to become a second operational vehicle for NASA's commercial crew program. However, its status remains uncertain following the problematic inaugural crewed flight test that left Wilmore and Williams stranded on the station.In September, the Starliner vehicle undocked from the space station without its crew and completed a parachute-assisted landing in New Mexico. When Crew-10 arrives at the ISS, they will spend several days on handover activities to help familiarize the new crew with their orbital home. Williams and Wilmore will then depart with the Crew-9 astronauts – NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov – who flew with a reduced crew specifically to leave room for the Starliner astronauts' return journey. The combined crew will make a splashdown landing off the Florida coast, finally bringing the extended Starliner mission to a close.
The SpaceX Crew-10 mission, scheduled to launch as early as Wednesday at 7:48 p.m. EST from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, represents a critical step in resolving the Starliner saga. Once the new crew arrives at the space station, Williams and Wilmore could return to Earth as soon as Sunday, March 16, according to a NASA spokesperson.
"We're ready to high-five them, bring them home," said NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Crew-10's mission commander, during a media briefing on Friday.
The Starliner astronauts have remained aboard the space station since their arrival after NASA determined that Boeing's troubled spacecraft wasn't suitable for transporting them back to Earth. Instead, they were integrated into the Crew-9 mission, which arrived in September aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Their return has been delayed for two key reasons: Crew-9 needed to complete their six-month mission, and NASA protocol requires waiting for the successor crew to arrive before departure.
Crew-10 Mission Details
- The four-person crew includes:
- NASA astronaut Anne McClain of Spokane, Washington, mission commander
- NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers of Colorado, mission pilot
- Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, mission specialist
- Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, mission specialist
Crew-10 represents SpaceX's tenth science rotation mission to the ISS under NASA's commercial crew program. The program allows NASA to contract with private companies like SpaceX to transport astronauts and cargo to orbit, freeing the agency to focus on its Artemis lunar program and future Mars missions.
The mission will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a previously flown Dragon capsule named Endurance. This represents a change from earlier plans, which called for a new Dragon capsule and a later launch date in March.
Starliner's uncertain future
The Boeing Starliner was intended to become a second operational vehicle for NASA's commercial crew program. However, its status remains uncertain following the problematic inaugural crewed flight test that left Wilmore and Williams stranded on the station.In September, the Starliner vehicle undocked from the space station without its crew and completed a parachute-assisted landing in New Mexico. When Crew-10 arrives at the ISS, they will spend several days on handover activities to help familiarize the new crew with their orbital home. Williams and Wilmore will then depart with the Crew-9 astronauts – NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov – who flew with a reduced crew specifically to leave room for the Starliner astronauts' return journey. The combined crew will make a splashdown landing off the Florida coast, finally bringing the extended Starliner mission to a close.