A launch attempt for the Crew-10 mission, which is set to transport four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), has been postponed due to a hydraulic issue with the Falcon 9 rocket’s ground system. The crew will now wait until at least Friday to reach their destination.
Crew-10 commander Anne McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers are accompanied by Takuya Onishi of JAXA and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos on this mission. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were initially expected to return to Earth in June last year, will now join the crew for at least one more day.
The hydraulic issue was detected during the countdown, less than 45 minutes before liftoff. High winds and rain predicted along the launch path forced mission managers to delay the attempt until Friday at 7:03 p.m. Eastern time.
Launch teams are working to fix the problem with the clamp arm. Crew-10 will be the 10th mission of its kind, ferrying crew to and from the space station.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were stranded in orbit for over nine months after a test flight of Starliner, an astronaut capsule built by Boeing, was aborted due to propulsion problems. They had been awaiting their return in the Crew-9 capsule, which is now scheduled to depart four days after Crew-10 arrives at the space station.
The astronauts expressed their excitement about their extended stay, describing it as “work, wonderful enjoyment” and noting that they’re making the most of their time in space.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/science/nasa-spacex-astronauts-iss-launch.html