NASA, SpaceX Launch Crew-10 to Bring Home Stranded Astronauts

Kennedy Space Center, Florida: NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-10 mission on Friday to bring back Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and two other astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying four new astronauts—NASA’s Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos’ Kirill Peskov—lifted off at 7:03 PM (local time) from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The new crew is set to arrive and dock at the ISS on March 15, allowing the Crew-9 astronauts to return home by March 19.

Williams and Wilmore were originally part of an eight-day test mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner, but technical issues left them stranded for nine months as the Starliner returned empty. The mission’s delays have sparked political controversy, with former US President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk blaming the Biden administration for the prolonged stay.

NASA confirmed that a last-minute ground systems issue delayed the launch, but SpaceX resolved it by flushing out a suspected air pocket in a hydraulic clamp arm. With a 95% favorable weather forecast, the mission is now on track to safely rotate the ISS crew.