SpaceX Crew-10 Reaches International Space Station, Sunita Williams Expresses Joy with Hugs

The Crew-10 members met Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore post-docking.Sunita appeared cheerful and playful while meeting her fellow astronauts, expressing her happiness by hugging everyone. 

The Falcon-9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft reached the ISS at 9:40 AM local time. The Crew-10 team includes two American astronauts, Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov. 

The arrival of Crew-10 at the International Space Station has raised hopes for the return of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded in space for several months. 

Launched from Texas on Friday, the space capsule reached the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday at 12:05 PM EST (9:35 PM IST). The SpaceX Dragon capsule took approximately 28.5 hours to travel from Earth to the ISS. 

SpaceX Crew-10 Reaches International Space Station, Sunita Williams Expresses Joy with Hugs pic.twitter.com/HXIrcPRpp9

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Over the next few days, they will gather information about the ISS alongside NASA astronauts Williams and Wilmore. Williams and Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS since June due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Initially planned as an eight-day mission, their return was delayed due to persistent problems. 

Plans to bring them back after Crew-9’s arrival in August were also canceled due to a shortage of emergency escape pods. Now, with Crew-10 successfully docked, Williams and Wilmore finally have a chance to return to Earth. 

According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, their return is expected soon. The Crew-10 mission was initially scheduled for Wednesday evening but was postponed due to an issue with the ground support clamp arm on the rocket. Despite the delay, the mission is now back on track, ensuring that the long-awaited return of the stranded astronauts is imminent. 

Earlier, the astronauts were expected to return to Earth by the end of March, but following a request from U.S. President Donald Trump to Elon Musk to bring them back sooner, the timeline was expedited.