NASA and SpaceX successfully launched a long-awaited mission to bring back astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Crew Dragon capsule lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 PM local time. The spacecraft is carrying a four-member team—NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos’ Kirill Peskov—who are set to replace Williams, Wilmore, and two other crew members currently aboard the ISS as part of the Crew-10 mission. Their arrival is scheduled for March 15, with Crew-9 expected to return no earlier than March 19.
The mission had faced delays due to a last-minute technical issue with the rocket’s ground systems. Originally planned for March 12, the launch was postponed as SpaceX had to resolve a suspected air pocket in a hydraulic clamp arm. By March 13, NASA confirmed the issue had been fixed, and the launch proceeded as scheduled on March 15 under favorable weather conditions. The delay added to the prolonged wait for Williams and Wilmore, who were initially sent to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for what was supposed to be an eight-day test mission. However, due to technical problems with the Starliner, the spacecraft returned to Earth empty, leaving the two astronauts stuck in orbit.
The extended mission has also drawn political attention, with former U.S. President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk criticizing the Biden administration, alleging political motives behind the delay in bringing the astronauts home. Despite the controversy, the Crew-10 mission is expected to restore normal operations aboard the ISS and successfully bring Williams and Wilmore back to Earth.