NASA’s Crew-10 Arrives At ISS; Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore To Depart On Wednesday
Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Return: NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX had launched a long-awaited crew mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to bring back astronauts.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck in space for over nine months after technical issues in their Starliner capsule. The Crew-10 has officially arrived at the ISS as SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully completed the docking process at 12:04 am ET (9:34 am Indian time).
Just after completing the docking, Crew-10 received a welcome from an orbital sunrise.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying four astronauts who will replace Wilmore and Williams. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft has now successfully docked at the ISS at 9:35 am Indian time on March 16. The hatch will be opened at approximately 1:45 am ET (11:15 am IST) after the spacecraft conducts standard leak checks and pressurisation
At 9:30 IST, the spacecraft began its final approach after getting the go-ahead from the ISS crew for docking. The Crew Dragon spacecraft has completed rendezvous and the docking sequence was completed at around 9:40 am IST, with the ISS crew welcoming the new NASA astronauts. The spacecraft is ready for hatch opening at the ISS. According to NASA, the hatch opening is scheduled to take place at 1:05 am ET (10:35 am IST).
The Crew-10 astronauts will then be welcomed aboard, while Crew-9 delivers their farewell remarks at 1:40 am EDT (11:10 am IST). The Crew-10 will join the Expedition 72 crew of NASA astronauts including Williams and Wilmore, increasing the total number of astronauts on the ISS to 11.
Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore To Depart On Wednesday
Williams and Wilmore are scheduled to depart on Wednesday as early as 4 am ET (1:30 pm IST), and make their way back to Earth after their trip to space, which was initially meant for only eight days, stretched on for over nine months. They will be accompanied with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who flew on a Crew Dragon craft.