Tonight, on March 15, SpaceX's Crew-10 astronaut mission is poised to make its arrival at the International Space Station (ISS). This exciting event promises to be a highlight for space enthusiasts, as viewers can watch the action live. The Crew-10 mission launched successfully on Friday evening, March 14, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This mission carries four astronauts from three different nations, all heading towards the orbiting laboratory.
The culmination of this journey will occur today when Crew-10's Crew Dragon capsule, aptly named Endurance, is scheduled to dock with the ISS's Harmony module at approximately 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 GMT on March 16). For those eager to catch the live action, NASA will begin its broadcast at 9:45 p.m. EDT (0145 GMT). Additionally, Space.com will also stream the event, contingent on NASA's availability of the feed.
After the docking, there are several key milestones to watch. The hatches between the Endurance capsule and the ISS are expected to open around 1:05 a.m. EDT (0505 GMT) on March 16, at which point the astronauts aboard the ISS will hold a welcoming ceremony for the new arrivals approximately 30 minutes later.
The Crew-10 team consists of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Kirill Peskov from the Russian space agency Roscosmos. McClain serves as the Crew-10 commander, while Ayers takes on the role of pilot. Onishi and Peskov are designated as mission specialists. Together, this diverse group will reside aboard the ISS for approximately six months, adhering to the standard duration for crew rotations.
The Crew-10 astronauts will relieve four members of the current ISS crew: NASA's Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Aleksandr Gorbunov from Roscosmos. Hague and Gorbunov have been stationed at the ISS since late September, following the launch of SpaceX's Crew-9 mission. Williams and Wilmore have been in orbit since early June, having launched on the inaugural crewed mission of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Although Starliner's mission was intended to last around ten days, thruster issues led to the capsule being brought back uncrewed in early September.
As a result, NASA reassigned Williams and Wilmore to a long-term ISS mission, making adjustments to the Crew-9 return plan. Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov are scheduled to return to Earth in the Crew-9 Dragon no earlier than Wednesday, March 19, according to NASA officials following the successful Crew-10 launch.
