SpaceX's spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station for an epic rescue.

Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov will return to Earth in SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule no later than Wednesday, March 19, according to NASA officials after the Crew-10 launch.

The Crew-10 astronauts will prepare to take on the station's scientific and maintenance tasks. During the first few days, they will learn from veteran astronauts like Wilmore and Williams about ISS operations and pending tasks.

Then, the Crew-10 astronauts will take over the experiments and maintenance, while Wilmore and Williams, along with Hague and Gorbunov, prepare to return to Earth.

During an appearance on Fox News, former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao commented on the arrival of Crew-10, highlighting that everything had gone perfectly. “This isn't like in the movies.

It doesn't dock and then the hatches open immediately. A series of leak checks is performed, and the capsule and station are allowed to reach thermal stability to ensure any pressure fluctuations are only due to temperature changes,” Chiao explained. “Everything has gone very well, and now, Suni and Butch are ready to hand over responsibilities and return to Earth.”

Thus, SpaceX's Crew-10 mission has been a success, with the arrival of the new astronauts at the ISS, who will integrate into the work their colleagues are already doing in orbit.

 

The Starliner mission, which was originally scheduled to last only about ten days, faced issues with the thrusters, resulting in its uncrewed return in September.

Due to these setbacks, NASA decided to retain Williams and Wilmore on the station for a long-term mission and reorganized the return of other astronauts.

Led by Elon Musk, SpaceX's Crew-10 mission has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) after a 28-hour orbital journey, to undertake a heroic rescue of the astronauts that Joe Biden left stranded in space for almost a year. 

On March 14, 2025, Crew-10 launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying four astronauts from three different countries to the orbiting laboratory.

The Crew Dragon capsule, named Endurance, reached the ISS in the early hours of March 16, docking with the station's Harmony module at 12:04 A.M., while both vehicles flew about 260 miles (418 kilometers) over the Atlantic Ocean.

Once the capsule successfully docked, Takuya Onishi, mission specialist from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), expressed: “It's a great honor to be part of this program.

We have a lot of exciting work ahead that we're eager to perform. Thanks to everyone who helped us get here.” The hatches between the Endurance capsule and the ISS were opened at 1:35 A.M., and the Crew-10 astronauts floated aboard the station ten minutes later.

The Crew-10 members are Onishi, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. McClain is the mission commander, Ayers is the pilot, and Onishi and Peskov are mission specialists.

The quartet will remain on the ISS for about six months, which is the usual duration of crew rotations. Their arrival replaces the astronauts who have been on the station for much longer than stipulated due to the incompetence of the Democratic administration.

Nick Hague and Suni Williams from NASA, Butch Wilmore from NASA, and Aleksandr Gorbunov from Roscosmos, will return to Earth after nine grueling months on the ISS. 

Hague and Gorbunov arrived at the station on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission in September, while Williams and Wilmore have been in orbit since early June, when they launched aboard Boeing's first crewed Starliner mission.