The return of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who went to the International Space Station on Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule last summer, depends on when Crew-10 arrives.
After spending more than eight months in space, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams’ extended mission is ending in March.
In an exclusive chat with CNN from space, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore shared that the Crew-10 mission will launch from Earth on March 12. It will then dock with the International Space Station (ISS) for a six-month mission.
The two astronauts will hand over their work, and there will be a transition where a new Space Station Commander will take over. Right now, Sunita Williams is the commander of the space station.
After a week-long handover, the two astronauts will board the Dragon spacecraft that brought Crew-10 to space and return to Earth. The Dragon spacecraft, carrying the two veteran astronauts, will undock on March 19.
“The plan is that Crew-10 will launch on March 12, do a turnover for a week and we will return on March 19,” astronaut Butch Willmore told CNN in the interview.
The return of Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who traveled to the International Space Station on Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule last summer, depends on the arrival of Crew-10’s four-person crew. This is needed to keep the station’s American team at the normal level.
“Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges,” NASA’s Commercial Crew Program head Steve Stich said in a statement, praising SpaceX for its flexibility.
The Crew-10 decision is also expected to affect Axiom’s planned Crew Dragon mission, which will fly government astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary. Axiom, based in Houston, arranges private and government astronaut missions using Crew Dragon but did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon capsule with about $3 billion in funding from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. This program aims to give companies control of spaceflight to encourage the growth of a private market and lower costs.
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