Washington: A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) early Sunday, carrying four astronauts in a critical NASA crew-swap mission.
This long-awaited arrival sets the stage for the long-overdue return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunitha Williams, who have been stranded in orbit for nine months due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner capsule.
The Crew-10 mission, which launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. ET on Friday, completed its 29-hour journey to the ISS with a smooth docking at 12:04 a.m. ET (0404 GMT) on Sunday.
Initially set to return on the Starliner, Wilmore and Williams were left on the ISS after the spacecraft encountered technical problems, forcing NASA to send it back to Earth empty.
In response, a modified return plan was developed last year, allowing them to depart aboard a different Crew Dragon capsule that has remained docked since September.
All the hugs. 🫶
The hatch of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft opened March 16 at 1:35 a.m. ET and the members of Crew-10 entered the @Space_Station with the rest of their excited Expedition 72 crew. pic.twitter.com/mnUddqPqfr
— NASA’s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) March 16, 2025
Wilmore, Williams, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are scheduled to leave the ISS as early as Wednesday at 4 a.m. ET (0800 GMT).
Their return will mark the end of an unexpectedly prolonged mission, during which they contributed to scientific research and station maintenance alongside fellow astronauts.
The Crew-10 team, comprising NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov- will remain on the ISS for the next six months, continuing key experiments and operations.
Despite the unexpected extension, Sunitha Williams remained optimistic, saying that she is eager to reunite with her family and two dogs. “It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,” she remarked.
