The International Space Station (ISS) welcomed a new crew of four astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance capsule after a 28-hour mission. The Crew-10 mission, launched from the coast of Florida on March 14 on a Falcon 9 rocket, successfully docked with the ISS’s Harmony module on March 16. At the moment of convergence, the objects were at an altitude of 418 kilometers above the Atlantic Ocean.
Crew members included:
- Anne McClain (NASA), mission commander;
- Nichole Ayers (NASA), pilot;
- Takuya Onishi (JAXA, Japan);
- Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos).
Two hours later, the hatches between Endurance and the ISS opened, officially beginning the new team’s six-month expedition.
The newcomers will conduct more than 200 experiments in biology, physics and climatology. Special attention will be paid to the study of the influence of microgravity on bone tissue and the development of methods to combat its destruction. The crew will also perform a number of spacewalks to modernize the station’s systems.
Rescue of the Starliner crew
Crew-10 will replace four astronauts on the station who have been in orbit since last year: Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore (NASA) and Alexander Gorbunov (Roscosmos). Williams and Wilmore were supposed to return back in September after a test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, but engine failures canceled the mission and the craft returned to Earth empty. NASA decided to keep the astronauts on the ISS, while Gorbunov and Hague were relocated aboard Crew-9 for a March 19 return to Earth with the Starliner crew.
Crew-10 was SpaceX’s tenth regular mission to the ISS and demonstrated the robust partnership between NASA and private companies. Despite geopolitical tensions, joint work at the station remains an example of international cooperation. “Space has no boundaries. Our mission is a reminder that science unites,” emphasized Anne McClain.
Crew-9 is scheduled to return to Earth on March 19. The Endurance capsule will remain docked to the ISS until a new crew completes the expedition in the autumn of 2024.
We previously reported on how Trump noticed signs of sympathy between the Starliner astronauts.
According to Space
