TIMELINE: Stuck NASA Astronauts One Step Closer to Home After SpaceX Crew-Swap Launch | News9
NASA and SpaceX on Friday (March 14) launched a long-awaited crew to the International Space Station that opens the door to bringing home U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab for nine months. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. ET (2303 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying four astronauts who will replace Wilmore and Williams, both of whom are veteran NASA astronauts and retired U.S. Navy test pilots and were the first to fly Boeing's BA.N faulty Starliner capsule to the ISS in June. But problems with Starliner's propulsion system during its flight to the ISS delayed what was expected to be an eight-day stay. NASA deemed it too risky for the astronauts to fly home on the Boeing craft. Otherwise a routine crew rotation flight, Friday's Crew-10 mission is a long-awaited first step to bring the astronaut duo back to Earth - part of a plan set by NASA last year that more recently has been given greater urgency by President Donald Trump. The Crew-10 launch occurred as Wilmore and Williams were asleep in their daily schedule on the station, Dina Contellam deputy manager of NASA's ISS program, told reporters after the launch. After the Crew-10 astronauts' ISS arrival on Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET, Wilmore and Williams are scheduled to depart on Wednesday as early as 4 a.m. ET (0800 GMT), along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague and Gorbunov flew to the ISS in September on a Crew Dragon craft with two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams. Minutes after reaching orbit, McClain, part of NASA's astronaut corps since 2013, introduced the mission's microgravity indicator - per tradition in American spaceflight to signal the crew safely reached space - as a plush origami crane, "the international symbol for peace, hope and healing." "It is far easier to be enemies than it is to be friends, it's easier to break partnerships and relationships than it is to build them," McClain, the Crew-10 mission commander, said from the Crew Dragon capsule, her communications live-streamed by NASA. The mission became entangled in politics as Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, who is also SpaceX's CEO, urged a quicker Crew-10 launch and claimed, without evidence, that former President Joe Biden had abandoned Wilmore and Williams on the station for political reasons. "We came prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short," Wilmore told reporters from space earlier this month, adding that he did not believe NASA's decision to keep them on the ISS until Crew-10's arrival had been affected by politics. "That's what your nation's human spaceflight program's all about," he said, "planning for unknown, unexpected contingencies. And we did that." The Crew-10 mission is part of a normal crew rotation happening at an unusual time for NASA's ISS operations - rather than a dedicated mission to retrieve Wilmore and Williams, who will return to Earth as late additions to NASA's Crew-9 crew. Musk says SpaceX had offered a dedicated Dragon mission for the pair last year as NASA mulled ways to bring the two back to Earth. But NASA officials have said the two astronauts have had to remain on the ISS to maintain adequate staffing levels, and that it did not have the budget or the operational need to send a dedicated rescue spacecraft. Having seen their mission turn into a normal NASA rotation to the ISS, Wilmore and Williams have been doing scientific research and conducting routine maintenance with the other five astronauts. Williams told reporters earlier this month that she was looking forward to returning home to see her two dogs and family. "It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us," she said. #nasa #astronauts #spacex #sunitawilliams #live .............................................................................................. News9 is India's first fully integrated English news brand across all digital platforms. It includes a publishing platform, viz. www.news9live.com, a future-ready OTT platform, News9 Plus, and a 24-Hour video streaming service on connected TVs and all social platforms. Watch News9 Live - The English news brand that understands and fits perfectly into the digital-first lifestyles of our English news audiences. ► News9 Plus Website : https://www.news9plus.com/all ► News9 Plus App : https://news9plus.app.link/aPwz3P2psMb ► News9 OTT Coupons : https://bit.ly/4dwLDx4 ► Watch us on YouTube : / news9live ► Like us on Facebook : / news9live ► Follow us on Instagram : / news9live ► Follow us on Twitter : / news9tweets #englishnews #tv9digital #tv9d #news #livestream & #news9livestreaming
