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Finish line in sight

Crew-10 launches, finally clearing the way for Butch and Suni to fly home

Crew 9 could return as early as next Wednesday.

Eric Berger – | 123
Before Crew 10 launched the rocket and spacecraft were treated to a lunar eclipse. Credit: SpaceX
Before Crew 10 launched the rocket and spacecraft were treated to a lunar eclipse. Credit: SpaceX

A Falcon 9 rocket launched four astronauts safely into orbit on Friday evening, marking the official beginning of the Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station.

Although any crew launch into orbit is notable, this mission comes with an added bit of importance as its success clears the way for two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to finally return home from space after a saga spanning nine months.

Friday's launch came two days after an initial attempt was scrubbed on Wednesday evening. This was due to a hydraulic issue with the ground systems that handle the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A in Florida.

There were no technical issues on Friday, and with clear skies NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov rocketed smoothly into orbit.

If all goes well, the Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying the four astronauts will dock with the space station at 11:30 pm ET on Saturday. They will spend about six months there.

Ars Video

 

A long, strange trip

Following their arrival at the space station, the members of Crew-10 will participate in a handover ceremony with the four astronauts of Crew-9, which includes Wilmore and Williams. This will clear the members of Crew 9 for departure from the station as early as next Wednesday, March 19, pending good weather in the waters surrounding Florida for splashdown of Dragon.

Originally, prior to launching last June, Wilmore and Williams expected to spend about eight days in space. But things went sideways on their journey to space, and it's been a series of surprises since then:

  • Wilmore and Williams launch on the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5, 2024
  • During Starliner's flight to the International Space Station, the vehicle has thruster issues and helium leaks
  • In August, NASA announces Starliner will return to Earth uncrewed due to unresolved technical issues
  • Crew 9 mission launches with just two astronauts, NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Aleksandr Gorbunov, in late September
  • Wilmore and Williams join Crew 9, extending their flight from eight days to more than eight months
  • After SpaceX experiences a development issue with a Crew Dragon, Crew 9's return is delayed a month more, to March
  • In February 2025, Elon Musk and Donald Trump politicize Wilmore and Williams' long-duration stay
  • When a European astronaut calls Musk out for his "lie" about this, Musk replies, "You are fully retarded."
  • Musk recommends the space station be deorbited as soon as 2027, three years ahead of schedule
  • NASA officials undermine Musk’s claims about “stranded” astronauts

And now, they're finally coming home.

NASA has not announced plans for the arrival of Crew-9 back in Houston next week, but there may be a ceremony with officials from the White House, possibly including President Trump. So perhaps the politics of this particular flight are not over yet.

Photo of Eric Berger
Eric Berger Senior Space Editor
Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston.
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