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Image: NASA
Over the weekend and yesterday, NASA and SpaceX successfully rotated out Crew-9 for Crew-10 at the International Space Station. The crew members included former Starliner crew members, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Crew-10 launches to space
Friday evening, SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-10 mission from LC-39A with its destination being the ISS later in the weekend. It arrived and docked with the ISS late Saturday evening and began the handover process with the Crew-9 astronauts.
Crew-10’s launch was originally slated to fly on a brand-new Dragon spacecraft; however, delays in getting it ready by SpaceX led to NASA switching the flight onto another Dragon, Endurance. This switch actually allowed SpaceX and NASA to move up the launch, getting to the station now instead of in April.
On board Crew-10 were NASA astronaut Anne McClain (Commander), NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers (Pilot), JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
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SpaceX Crew-10 launches from LC-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Image: Steven Madow / Space Explored
Crew-9 returns home
With Crew-10 now on station, this relieves the astronauts of Crew-9 who have been on station for six to ten months. A part of the crew were NASA astronaut Nick Hague (Commander), Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, and NASA astronaut Suni Williams. The latter two being carryovers from the success yet to be determined Starliner Crew Flight Test of last summer.
Crew-9 departed the station early Tuesday morning, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico (or Gulf of America if you’re into that sort of thing) later that afternoon.
All four astronauts landed without issue and have returned to Houston for final checkouts.
Usually handovers between crews last a week; for Crew-9 and -10, the handover was only about two days. While this was likely plenty of time for the skilled individuals they are, they also trained regularly in a station mockup on the ground; it was supposed to originally be three.
However, poor weather later in the week made NASA move the return up a day; anytime a date in space moves to the left, it’s cause to be noted. This change marked Wilmore and Williams’ total stay in space to be 286 days instead of 287 days.
Starliner’s first crew are finally home
It’s hard not to ignore the difference this rotation played compared to previous ones. Wilmore and Williams originally were only supposed to be in space for eight days. Instead, they were on station for ten months. This was due to problems found with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft after arriving in space.
When Starliner departed the station without them, the two were assigned to Crew-8’s Dragon in case of a contingency where they needed to return before Crew-9 could arrive. Once Crew-9 arrived, the two received their SpaceX suits and had two dedicated seats to return on when the time came.
Because of their extended stay, NASA will gain better insights into how long-duration stays in space can affect the body. Also, their extended stay allowed for more science to be conducted at the station, keeping it from falling into a state of only repairs and maintenance, as would have happened if only three astronauts were on board.
Politics be politicing with this one
With President Trump’s return to the White House, the fate of Wilmore and Williams quickly turned political, with the President blaming the delay in their return on the previous administration. Elon Musk, a close aide to the President and CEO of SpaceX, claimed he made a direct offer to the Biden administration to bring Wilmore and Williams down early but was denied. No independent reporting has been able to confirm that claim or show how such a mission would have been even possible.
The astronauts have been repeatedly misrepresented as “stranded,” even though they have always had a spacecraft available to them in case of emergencies. Even worse, President Trump has claimed that NASA “forgot” about them, something that is quite impossible when they are contacted daily by the crew through Mission Control, assigning them tasks and sending food and clothing on resupply missions.
Prior to Crew-9’s return, President Trump posted to his social media site Truth Social about the mission:
I just spoke with the Acting Administrator of NASA, Janet Petro.
She is coordinating our Team of highly respected Scientists, Space Engineers, and various other “geniuses,” who has agreed to let our Astronauts come home long prior to the two week period originally approved by NASA. Janet was great. She said, “Let’s bring them home NOW, Sir!” – And I thanked her. This began when I asked Elon Musk to go up and get the abandoned Astronauts, because the Biden Administration was incapable of doing so. They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them – Another thing I inherited from that failed group of incompetents. Elon and I have taken on the project, sending up the Space Dragon, which has successfully docked and, hopefully, while there is always danger involved in such a mission, they will soon be on their way home — Taking off tomorrow, and landing on Wednesday. Exact times will be provided to you. Safety always comes first, and maximum standards are being adhered to. But after eight long months for a mission that was supposed to be eight days, IT IS TIME. Ilook forward to seeing Butch and Suni, and thank you again to NASA and Janet Petro!
Multiple items were false in this statement:
SpaceX was tasked with Crew-10’s launch and Crew-9’s return during the Biden Administration.
NASA did not forget about the astronauts as the crew was assigned duties in space and were sent two resupply missions by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.
NASA’s decision on Williams and Wilmore’s way home was based on what made the most sense both technically and financially.
Wilmore and Williams were not “abandoned” as they had a safe return option home since they arrived on station in June 2024.
The plan they claimed to have put in place was inherited from the Biden Administration, and the only thing that changed was the launch date, which was delayed from February.
Wilmore and Williams have been in space for ten, not eight, months.
Anyways, the crew of Starliner, and their Crew-10 companions, have finally returned, ending the nearly year-long debate about their fate, even though it was never a question. So hopefully now we can continue on with NASA’s mission to explore space with limited controversy. Yeah… probably not.