NASA’s Crew-10 mission has successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with four astronauts en route to the International Space Station. The crew includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, as well as Takuya Onishi of JAXA and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos.
The launch, which took place on Friday evening, was originally scrubbed due to a hydraulic issue with a clamp arm that held onto the rocket. However, the problem was resolved, and the crew lifted off smoothly at 7:03 p.m. Eastern time.
This mission is a routine rotation of crew on the space station, but it’s garnering extra attention because two NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, are returning to Earth after an extended stay in orbit. The original launch attempt was called off due to the hydraulic issue, and the crew had been stuck in orbit for over nine months.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft will catch up to the space station late Saturday, and the astronauts will spend several days there before departing on a return journey. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to leave the space station around March 19, although their exact departure date is uncertain due to weather conditions.
In an interview, Suni Williams described her extended stay as “work” or “wonderful enjoyment,” but not being “stranded” or “stuck.” She and her crewmate Butch Wilmore are both seasoned astronauts who will be returning to Earth for the third time.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/science/nasa-spacex-astronauts-iss-launch.html