NEW DELHI, March 15: SpaceX and NASA have launched a mission to bring U.S. astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back from the International Space Station (ISS), where they have been stranded for nine months. The mission, which lifted off at 7:03 ET on Friday, saw a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft as part of the Crew-10 mission.
Along with the return of Williams and Wilmore, the launch also delivered four new crew members to the ISS. These include NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
Crew-10 marks the tenth crew rotation mission under SpaceX’s human space transportation system, and the eleventh flight carrying a crew to the ISS through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which also includes the Demo-2 test flight.
Williams and Wilmore, who arrived at the ISS in June of the previous year, were initially scheduled to stay for about a week. However, their stay was unexpectedly extended to nine months due to delays in their return.
Ahead of the launch, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared a video message expressing support for the mission. “I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you. We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon,” Hegseth said in a video posted on X. He further stated, “President Trump said to Elon Musk, ‘Get the astronauts home and do it now’—and they’re responding.” He emphasized that the mission is bringing home NASA astronauts who are also retired U.S. Navy Captains, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
