Sunita Williams And Butch Wilmore Coming To Earth Early: NASA Accelerates Crew-10 Mission Launch

 

Following a series of delays, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is finally getting ready to bring back astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS)-- a little earlier than previously planned. The space agency is now eyeing the March 12 launch for the Crew-10 rotation mission. The two stranded astronauts will return to Earth together with Crew-9 members following a several-day handover period.

 

 

NASA and Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) have accelerated the target launch and return dates for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from the ISS. The Crew-10 launch, now targeting March 12, is pending mission readiness and completion of the agency’s certification of flight readiness process, NASA said in a blog post.

 

The Crew-10 mission will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain (commander) and Nichole Ayers (pilot), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi (mission specialist), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov (mission specialist) to the space station. After Crew-10 arrives at the space station, Crew-9 will help the newly arrived crew familiarise with ongoing science and station maintenance work, which supports a safer transition of operations aboard the orbital complex, the space agency explained. Following the handover, NASA and SpaceX will prepare to return to Earth with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The return timing will depend on weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida. 

 

 The Crew-10 mission management decided to use a previously flown Dragon spacecraft, called Endurance, for the Crew-10 mission, instead of using a new Dragon spacecraft that would have required additional processing time. This decision saved time and allowed for an early launch opportunity for the crew rotation mission launch.