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NASA’s Crew-10 Astronauts Launch to Space Station, Replacing Current Crew

Space

Business Honor
15 March, 2025

Crew-10 astronauts launched successfully, replacing the departing team, including Wilmore and Williams.

Four astronauts on their journey to the International Space Station have launched into orbit Friday night. About 48 hours after a first launch attempt was canceled, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers took off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:03 p.m. ET, blasting into clear blue skies over Florida.

NASA regularly rotates crew members to and from the space station, and this journey, called Crew-10, was one of those missions. However, because it signifies that NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are now nearing their eagerly anticipated return to Earth, it has garnered more attention than normal.

The new crew will replace Williams, Wilmore, and two other crew members who are finishing up a nearly six-month stay at the space station: Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Hague.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carried the Crew-10 crew into orbit. The booster's reusable first stage made a successful return to Earth, landing at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida approximately ten minutes after liftoff. The flight director for SpaceX radioed to the crew in space, "It was an honor flying with you this evening." "We give Crew-9 our best effort and wish you a safe journey."

The journey to the space station will now take the Crew-10 astronauts more than 28 hours in low-Earth orbit. Late Saturday is when they should reach the orbiting outpost. NASA then said the departing crew could leave as early as Wednesday, March 19.

A handover phase that usually lasts a few days will begin when they arrive at the space station, giving the new crew members time to get trained and caught up on maintenance tasks, science experiments, and other station projects.