Nasa and SpaceX have successfully launched a long-awaited crew to the International Space Station, paving the way for the return of US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stationed on the orbital lab for nine months.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off at 7:03 PM local time (11:03 PM Irish time) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts designated to replace Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams, both veteran NASA astronauts and retired US Navy test pilots. They were among the first to fly Boeing’s flawed Starliner capsule to the ISS in June.
Initially a routine crew rotation flight, yesterday’s Crew-10 mission marks a long-awaited step towards bringing the astronaut duo back to Earth—part of a plan put forth by NASA last year, which has gained urgency under President Donald Trump.
The Crew-10 launch took place while Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams were asleep, according to Dina Contellam, deputy manager of NASA’s ISS program, who spoke to reporters after the launch.
US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been aboard the ISS since June.
Mr. Hague and Mr. Gorbunov traveled to the ISS in September aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft, which included two empty seats for Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams.
The Crew-10 team, set to stay on the station for around six months, consists of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
Planning for the unexpected
Moments after reaching orbit, Ms. McClain, part of NASA’s astronaut corps since 2013, introduced the mission’s microgravity indicator—a plush origami crane, symbolizing peace, hope, and healing, in line with American spaceflight tradition that signals the crew’s safe arrival in space.
“It is much easier to be enemies than it is to be friends; it is easier to break partnerships than it is to build them,” Ms. McClain, the Crew-10 mission commander, said from the Crew Dragon capsule, with her communications live-streamed by NASA.
“Spaceflight is challenging, and success hinges on leaders of character who opt for difficult but right choices over simple but wrong ones, building programs, partnerships, and relationships. We explore for the benefit of everyone,” she added.
NASA astronaut Anne McClain serves as the Crew-10 mission commander.
The mission entered the political arena as Mr. Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, who is also SpaceX’s CEO, pressured for an expedited Crew-10 launch, claiming without evidence that former president Joe Biden had politically abandoned Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams on the station.
“We arrived prepared for a lengthy stay, despite initially planning for a shorter one,” Mr. Wilmore remarked from space earlier this month, insisting that NASA’s decision to prolong their stay on the ISS until Crew-10’s arrival was not influenced by politics.
“That’s what your nation’s human spaceflight program embodies,” he stated, “planning for unexpected contingencies. And we did that.”
The Crew-10 mission is a part of a standard crew rotation occurring under unusual circumstances for NASA’s ISS operations, rather than a dedicated mission to retrieve Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams, who will return to Earth as late additions to NASA’s Crew-9 crew.
Mr. Musk noted that SpaceX had offered a dedicated Dragon mission for the two astronauts last year while NASA considered options for their return.
However, NASA officials indicated that the two astronauts needed to remain on the ISS to ensure sufficient staffing levels, emphasizing that there was neither budget nor operational necessity for a dedicated rescue spacecraft.
As their mission transitioned into a regular NASA rotation to the ISS, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams have been engaged in scientific research and routine maintenance alongside the other five astronauts.
Crew-10 mission members include Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, NASA astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, along with JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi.
Ms. Williams mentioned to reporters earlier this month that she was eager to return home to see her two dogs and family. “It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a bit more than for us,” she stated.
‘Unusual’ mission preparations
The demands from Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk for an earlier return of Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams represented an atypical intrusion into NASA operations.
The agency subsequently advanced the Crew-10 mission launch from March 26, swapping a delayed SpaceX capsule for another that would be ready sooner.
The pressure from Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump loomed over NASA’s preparation and safety processes, which ordinarily follow a clearly defined protocol.
Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme manager, remarked that preparing for the mission had been an “unusual flow in many respects.”
NASA’s space operations chief Ken Bowersox stated that the agency had to address several “late-breaking” issues, including an investigation into a fuel leak from a recent SpaceX Falcon 9 launch and the deterioration of a coating on some Dragon crew capsule thrusters.
Mr. Bowersox acknowledged the challenges of keeping pace with SpaceX: “We’re not quite as agile as they are, but we are collaborating well.”
