Astronauts hug SpaceX Falcon 9 rescuers after nine months stranded on ISS
The Crew-10 mission arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, just over a day after blasting off, and now the rescue team has finally reached the astronauts.
Two NASA astronauts, stranded in orbit for nine months, have finally been reached by SpaceX Falcon 9 rescuers, marking the beginning of their journey back to Earth.
The Crew-10 mission successfully docked at the International Space Station on Sunday, a little over 24 hours after its launch. The four new arrivals, hailing from the US, Japan, and Russia, will spend the upcoming days familiarising themselves with the station under the guidance of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
Later this week, the pair will board their own SpaceX capsule, which has been in orbit since last year, to conclude an unexpectedly prolonged mission that commenced in June of the previous year.
When they embarked on Boeing's inaugural astronaut flight, the astronauts anticipated a mission duration of merely one week. However, they recently marked their ninth month in space.
The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered numerous issues, prompting NASA to demand its return—sans crew—leaving the test pilots to await a SpaceX rescue, reports the Mirror.
Upon the new arrivals' entry, Mr Wilmore opened the space station's hatch and rang the ship's bell. Each newcomer was welcomed with warm embraces and handshakes.
"It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive," Ms Williams relayed to Mission Control.
Their journey began in late September, with a reduced crew of two and two vacant seats reserved for the return trip. However, further delays ensued when the replacement crew's brand new capsule required extensive battery repairs.
An older capsule was brought in as a substitute, pushing their return date to mid-March.
Provided the weather conditions are favourable, the SpaceX capsule carrying Mr Wilmore, Ms Williams, and two other astronauts is set to undock from the space station no earlier than Wednesday and make a splashdown off the coast of Florida. Until then, the orbiting lab will house 11 crew members.
Upon Crew10's departure this week, NASA posted on X: "Have a great time in space, y'all! #Crew10 lifted off from @NASAKennedy at 7:03pm ET (2303 UTC) on Friday, March 14."
Meanwhile, SpaceX announced: "Liftoff of Crew-1."
In an earlier statement, NASA revealed: "NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov will fly to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket.
"A regular crew rotation mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, the Crew-10 team will be part of the Expedition 72/73 crew while on station where they will perform dozens of science experiments during their several-month stay in orbit. After arriving at the station for docking about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, the Crew-10 members will spend a couple of days familiarising themselves with the station's systems.
"Crew-10 will rotate roles with NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 crew, including agency astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The Crew-9 mission, which has a separate Dragon spacecraft already docked to the space station, will then undock from the orbiting laboratory and return the Earth. Crew-9 undock is scheduled for no earlier than Wednesday, March 19."
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