SpaceX Crew-10 comes aboard the ISS | Photo: AFP
The Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully opened its hatch with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, marking a long-awaited moment for astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded in orbit for over nine months.
The moment was broadcast live, capturing the emotional embrace between the newly arrived Crew-10 astronauts and their ISS counterparts. Sunita Williams, visibly elated, expressed her gratitude to mission control, saying, “Houston, thanks for tuning in early morning. Great to see our friends arrive.”
The hatch opening followed the successful docking of SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission at 9:30 a.m. IST on March 16. This milestone marks the beginning of the long-awaited crew rotation process, which will eventually bring Williams and Wilmore back to Earth.
Docking and crew transfer
Following the docking, astronauts aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft conducted safety checks before opening the hatch. The arrival of Crew-10 has temporarily increased the number of astronauts aboard the ISS to 11, as they join NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Don Pettit, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner.
Crew-9 members, who have been on the ISS for six months, will deliver their farewell remarks at 1:40 a.m. EDT (11:10 a.m. IST), marking the beginning of the handover process. The new crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, will remain on the ISS for six months, conducting scientific research on lunar navigation, material flammability, and human adaptation to space.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were originally scheduled to stay on the ISS for just a week after arriving aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. However, technical issues with Starliner forced NASA to delay their return, extending their stay to nearly nine months.
With Crew-10 now safely docked, NASA has arranged for their return aboard a SpaceX capsule already at the station. Wilmore, Williams, and two other astronauts are expected to depart no earlier than March 19, with NASA closely monitoring weather conditions at potential splashdown sites off the Florida coast to ensure a safe landing.
SpaceX launched the Crew-10 mission on Friday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon capsule lifted off at 7:03 p.m. ET, successfully completing the launch phase. Approximately 10 minutes after takeoff, the capsule separated from the rocket’s upper stage and began its journey to the ISS.
(With inputs from agencies)
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