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Who are Crew-10 astronauts replacing Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore on ISS? What next?
NASA schedules Crew-9 and Crew-10 overlap to allow Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to brief the new crew on station operations before their departure.
Crew-10 astronauts will arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) on March 15 at 11.30 pm ET (9am IST on March 16) for a six-month mission, replacing NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, along with Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, who are set to depart on March 19.
The new crew includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. They will undergo a two-day handover period before taking over station operations.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon capsule launched at 7.03 pm ET on Friday (4.33 am IST on Saturday) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. About 10 minutes into the flight, the capsule separated from the rocket, beginning its journey to the ISS.
With Crew-10's arrival, the number of astronauts aboard the ISS will temporarily rise to 11, joining NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner.
Handover period
After a brief handover period, Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov are set to return to Earth no earlier than Wednesday, March 19. Before Crew-9 departs, mission teams will assess weather conditions at splashdown sites off the Florida coast, NASA said.
While a routine crew rotation, Crew-10’s mission is critical for returning Wilmore and Williams to Earth. The duo, who flew to the ISS in June aboard Boeing's faulty Starliner capsule, have been stuck on the station for nine months due to technical issues.
Their return has become more urgent under President Donald Trump, with NASA accelerating plans to bring them home. Wilmore, Williams, Hague, and Gorbunov are scheduled to leave no earlier than March 19, using a Crew Dragon capsule already docked at the ISS.
What next for Crew-10?
NASA plans for an overlap between the two crews – Crew 9 and Crew 10 – so that Wilmore and Williams can brief the newcomers on station activities before their departure. This schedule keeps them on track for an undocking next week, followed by a splashdown off the Florida coast, depending on weather conditions.
The duo will return to Earth with astronauts who arrived on a SpaceX rescue mission last September, with two empty seats reserved for them on the return trip.
The newly arrived Crew-10 includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots, along with Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will remain aboard the ISS for the usual six-month mission, replacing Wilmore and Williams.
During their stay, Crew-10 will conduct a variety of research, including lunar navigation, material flammability, and the effects of space on the human body. They are expected to stay on the ISS until the fall.
Crew-10 will perform material flammability tests as part of its mission to aid in the development of future spacecraft and facility designs.
(With inputs from agencies)
