The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying four astronauts, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday. This marks a key step toward the homecoming of astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded in space for the past nine months. The Crew-10 mission arrived at the ISS at approximately 9:40 AM IST following an autonomous docking process, closely monitored by both the spacecraft crew and the ISS team.
The Crew-10 astronauts were officially welcomed aboard the International Space Station, with Crew-9 delivering their farewell messages at approximately 1:40 AM EDT (11:10 AM IST on March 16).
On Friday, SpaceX launched Crew-10 on a critical mission to facilitate the return of astronauts Wilmore and Williams. The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon capsule, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida shortly after 7:00 PM New York time (4:30 AM IST on Saturday).
Around 10 minutes after launch, the capsule successfully separated from the rocket’s upper stage, and SpaceX confirmed that the crew was en route to the ISS.
In spaceflight, rendezvous refers to the precise navigation process by which two spacecraft meet in orbit before docking, where they physically connect.
For the Crew-10 mission, docking takes place when the Crew Dragon spacecraft attaches to the International Space Station (ISS), either automatically or manually. After docking, astronauts conduct checks for any air leaks before opening the hatch, allowing the Crew-10 members to enter the ISS and join the station’s existing crew.
The Crew-10 mission aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft as stated by the Hindustan Times includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. As part of NASA’s ongoing crew rotation on the International Space Station (ISS), the new team must undergo a two-day handover process before the current crew, including Wilmore and Williams, can return to Earth.
Wilmore and Williams are set to return to Earth no earlier than March 19, aboard a SpaceX capsule already docked at the International Space Station (ISS).
The astronauts initially arrived at the ISS in June on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, with plans for a one-week stay. However, due to technical issues with the Starliner, NASA determined it was unsafe for their return journey. As a result, the agency extended their mission and arranged for their return on a SpaceX spacecraft, leading to an extended stay of nearly nine months.
