The Crew-10 mission, a joint effort between NASA and SpaceX, is en route to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a routine crew rotation. It will also facilitate the return of U.S. astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, who have been stranded in space.
This mission is now progressing into its next phase, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft preparing for its scheduled “rendezvous, docking, and hatch opening” on Sunday, March 16.
According to NASA’s timeline, the docking process will take place at 11:30 p.m. EDT (9:00 a.m. IST on March 16), followed by the opening of the hatch at 1:05 a.m. EDT (10:35 a.m. IST on March 16).
Following the docking, the Crew-10 astronauts will be greeted aboard the station, while Crew-9 will deliver their farewell remarks at approximately 1:40 a.m. EDT (11:10 a.m. IST on March 16).
SpaceX successfully launched Crew-10 on Friday, initiating a mission critical to bringing Wilmore and Williams back to Earth. The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon capsule, lifted off just after 7:00 p.m. New York time (4:30 a.m. IST on Saturday) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Roughly 10 minutes after liftoff, the capsule separated from the rocket’s upper stage, and SpaceX confirmed that Crew-10 was on its way to the ISS.
In spaceflight terminology, a rendezvous refers to two spacecraft aligning their orbits to meet, while docking occurs when they physically connect. During this mission, Crew Dragon will either autonomously or manually attach to the ISS. Once securely docked, astronauts will check for air leaks before proceeding with the hatch opening, enabling Crew-10 members to enter the station.
After docking, Crew-10 will transition out of their spacesuits, prepare cargo for unloading, and finally open the hatch between the Dragon spacecraft and the ISS’s Harmony module around 1:05 a.m. EDT (10:35 a.m. IST) on Sunday, March 16.
With Crew-10’s arrival, the ISS will temporarily host 11 astronauts. The new team will join NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner. After a brief handover period, Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov are scheduled to return to Earth no earlier than Wednesday, March 19.
Before Crew-9’s departure, mission teams will evaluate weather conditions at potential splashdown sites off Florida’s coast to ensure a safe landing.
The Crew-10 team consists of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. As part of NASA’s ongoing crew rotation strategy, the incoming team will undergo a two-day handover process before the current crew—including Wilmore and Williams—can leave.
Williams and Wilmore are scheduled to depart as early as 4:00 a.m. ET (1:30 p.m. IST) on Wednesday, March 19; returning to Earth after a mission that was initially planned for just eight days but extended to over nine months. They will be accompanied by NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who also arrived via a Crew Dragon craft.
Originally, Williams and Wilmore reached the ISS in June aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, with the expectation of a short one-week stay. However, technical issues with Starliner rendered it unsafe for their return, leading NASA to extend their mission and arrange their return on a SpaceX vehicle. This unexpected delay prolonged their stay to nearly nine months.
The prolonged mission has sparked national attention and concern, with notable figures like former U.S. President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commenting on the situation. Meanwhile, Crew-10 is set to remain on the ISS for approximately six months, focusing on scientific research in areas such as lunar navigation, material flammability, and the effects of space on the human body.
