SpaceX Crew-10 Arrives to Bring Home NASA Astronauts After Extended ISS Stay

After an unexpected nine-month stay aboard the ISS, astronauts Wilmore and Williams are finally preparing to return home, thanks to the arrival of SpaceX's Crew-10 mission.

TOKER.TOP - NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams are poised to conclude an unexpectedly prolonged mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), spanning over nine months—a significant extension from their initially planned eight-day stay. This unforeseen prolongation resulted from technical complications encountered with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which was originally designated for their return journey. The Starliner experienced helium leaks and thruster malfunctions during its mission, leading NASA to opt for an uncrewed return of the spacecraft to ensure astronaut safety.

To facilitate their return, SpaceX's Crew-10 mission successfully launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and docked with the ISS on March 16, 2025. The Crew-10 team, comprising NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi, and Russia's Kirill Peskov, arrived to replace Wilmore and Williams. The docking occurred at 12:05 a.m. EST, marking a significant step toward bringing the stranded astronauts home.

The Crew-10 astronauts will spend several days familiarizing themselves with the station's operations before Wilmore and Williams depart. The returning astronauts are scheduled to undock later this week aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, with a planned splashdown off Florida's coast, weather permitting. Their return will conclude a mission that was originally intended to last only eight days but was extended due to unforeseen technical challenges.

This mission underscores the importance of flexibility and international collaboration in space exploration, highlighting the critical role of backup systems and contingency planning to ensure astronaut safety.