SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, bringing hope for the return of two NASA astronauts—Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore—who have been stuck in orbit for months. The space capsule, launched on Friday from Texas, arrived at the ISS at 12:05 a.m. EST (9:35 am IST). SpaceX Dragon capsule took about 28.5 hours to travel from Earth to the ISS.
The @SpaceX #Crew10 members joined the station’s Exp 72 crew after the hatch opened at 12:35am ET on Sunday beginning a long-duration space research mission. https://t.co/VrsLob2wh2
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 16, 2025
The spacecraft carried four astronauts—Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from NASA, Takuya Onishi from Japan’s JAXA, and Kirill Peskov from Russia’s Roscosmos. They will spend the next few days familiarizing themselves with the ISS alongside NASA astronauts Williams and Wilmore. The crew is expected to enter the ISS after 1.05 a.m. EST (10.35 a.m. IST), where astronaut Wilmore will greet them. Williams and Wilmore have been stranded on the ISS since June due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
#WATCH | Stranded for 9 months at International Space Station (ISS), astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to return to earth
A SpaceX rocket carrying a new crew has docked at the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a plan to bring astronauts home. The astronauts… pic.twitter.com/rb38BeCEQ6
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2025
Their return was scheduled after the eight-day mission, but persistent problems delayed their journey home. Plans to send them back after Crew-9’s arrival in August were also scrapped due to the lack of an emergency escape pod. Now, with Crew-10 successfully docked, Williams and Wilmore will finally get a chance to return to Earth along with Crew-9.
According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, their return flight is expected to begin in the coming days. Crew-10’s mission was initially planned for Wednesday evening but was postponed due to an issue with a ground support clamp arm on the rocket. Despite the delay, the mission is now back on track, ensuring that the long-awaited return of the stranded astronauts is just around the corner.
Earlier, the astronaut duo was scheduled to return to Earth by the end of March, but it was preponed after US President Donald Trump urged SpaceX Musk to bring them back early.
