On Friday, four astronauts from NASA’s Crew-10 mission began their journey back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, leaving the International Space Station (ISS) behind. This nearly 18-hour trip will conclude with a splashdown just off the coast of California in the Pacific Ocean, expected to happen at 3:33 p.m. UTC/GMT on Saturday.
The crew included US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. Their successful return marks the completion of NASA’s 10th rotation for commercial crew missions.
Throughout their 146-day stay in orbit, these astronauts participated in over 200 critical research experiments, opening new avenues in fields like plant growth and cell behavior in the unique environment of microgravity.
Replacement for Stranded Astronauts
The Crew-10 mission, which launched on March 14, served as a replacement for Crew-9. Those astronauts, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, found themselves stranded aboard the ISS for nine long months due to propulsion issues with their Boeing Starliner capsule.
Thankfully, a SpaceX capsule, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, came to the rescue, bringing the pair safely back home.
In a noteworthy week for NASA, Wilmore officially retired, ending a remarkable 25-year career within the agency, while US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, along with Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, reached the ISS to begin their own six-month mission.
Edited by Sean Sinico
Author: Shakeel Sobhan (with AFP, Reuters)
