A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, paving the way for a long-anticipated rescue of two astronauts stuck, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, in space.
The arrival of Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov marks the beginning of Crew-10’s mission and the impending return of Williams and Wilmore who have spent an unexpected nine months in space.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed the docking in a post on X, stating, “SpaceX Dragon docks with Space Station.”
According to Nasa, the spacecraft docked at 12:04 am EDT while the ISS was orbiting 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. Following docking, standard leak checks and pressurisation procedures were conducted before the hatch was scheduled to open at approximately 1:45 am EDT.
Wilmore and Williams near end of their prolonged stay
With Crew-10’s arrival, the station now hosts 11 astronauts, including members of Expedition 72. However, this number will soon reduce, as Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, along with two other Crew-9 members, prepare to return to Earth after a lengthy, unintended stay.
Wilmore and Williams initially reached the ISS in June 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, expecting to stay for just a week. However, as reported by AFP, technical failures with the Starliner, including propulsion issues and helium leaks, forced Nasa to leave the spacecraft unmanned for its return to Earth in September, extending the astronauts’ stay indefinitely.
Speaking after the Crew-10 docking, Williams expressed her relief and excitement, saying, “It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive.”
Their situation even drew political attention, with US President Donald Trump claiming he had authorized Musk to bring the astronauts home sooner than Nasa had planned.
Nasa, however, never officially classified them as “stranded,” maintaining that they were safe on the ISS and actively engaged in scientific research and maintenance work.
Crew-10’s mission
Before Wilmore and Williams depart, they will spend the next few days transitioning responsibilities to the new arrivals.
As per Nasa, Crew-10 will undertake over 200 scientific experiments, including tests on flammability in space and studies on the effects of microgravity on the human body. These experiments will contribute to Nasa’s long-term plans for deep-space exploration under the Artemis program.
Once the handover is complete, Wilmore, Williams, Nasa’s Nick Hague,and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will board the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom capsule for their return journey. Weather permitting, their splashdown off the Florida coast is expected no earlier than March 19.
This mission has increased SpaceX’s growing dominance in Nasa’s crew transport strategy.
According to AP, delays in Boeing’s Starliner program have reinforced the reliance on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which has completed multiple successful missions since becoming Nasa’s primary astronaut carrier in 2020.
