In a highly anticipated mission, SpaceX and NASA successfully launched the Crew-10 Mission to bring back astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months.
The launch took place smoothly at 7:03 PM ET (4:33 AM IST), with cheers erupting at the control center as the Falcon 9 rocket cleared all flight checkpoints without any issues. The spacecraft is carrying four astronauts to the ISS, replacing Williams and Wilmore, whose return has been delayed due to technical problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
NASA had earlier projected that the two astronauts could leave the ISS by March 19 at the earliest. Originally scheduled for an eight-day stay, their mission was prolonged after five out of 28 thrusters on the Starliner failed during their approach to the space station. The extended stay has raised health concerns, as images revealed noticeable weight loss for Williams.
The Crew-10 team includes Cosmonaut Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos), Pilot Nichole Ayers and Commander Anne McClain (NASA), and Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi (JAXA). Their journey to the ISS is expected to last approximately 28 hours, with docking scheduled for Saturday. Upon entering orbit, the crew sent messages of gratitude and greetings to their families, friends, and mission staff on Earth.
The launch had initially been delayed on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions, including high winds and precipitation along the Dragon spacecraft’s flight path. Crew-10 marks the 10th crew rotation mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and the 11th time SpaceX has transported astronauts to the ISS, including the Demo-2 test flight.
Controversy has surrounded the prolonged stay of Williams and Wilmore, with former U.S. President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk alleging that the astronauts were left stranded due to political reasons by the previous Biden administration. In an interview with Fox News, Trump claimed that Biden had intended to abandon the astronauts in space, a sentiment Musk echoed. “Their return was postponed to a ridiculous degree for political reasons,” Musk stated.
However, Wilmore dismissed such claims, stating that politics had no role in the extended mission. “We have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk and, of course, admiration for our president, Donald Trump,” he said.
Meanwhile, Musk recently suggested decommissioning the ISS ahead of schedule, posting on X: “It is time to begin preparations for deorbiting the @Space_Station. It has served its purpose. There is very little incremental utility. Let’s go to Mars.” Williams, however, countered this view, asserting, “We’re actually in our prime right now.”
