Crew-10 Arrives To Relieve Williams And Wilmore After Nine-Month Space Odyssey

A new crew of astronauts has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) to take over duties from NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, paving the way for the duo’s long-awaited return to Earth after a politically charged nine-month mission.

Crew-10’s Arrival Marks the Start of the Transition

The Crew-10 mission, a routine staff rotation conducted by NASA and SpaceX, launched at 7:03 p.m. ET on Friday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission carried four astronauts — NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, which was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

The capsule docked with the ISS at 12:04 a.m. ET on Sunday. Over the next few days, the Crew-10 team will undergo a "handover" period with Williams, Wilmore, and their fellow Crew-9 astronauts, NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov. If all goes according to plan, the Crew-9 astronauts will depart as soon as March 19, returning to Earth after a mission that began in September.

Delayed Return and Political Drama

Williams and Wilmore were initially scheduled to return home months ago, but technical issues and political controversies have extended their stay. NASA had originally planned for them to return shortly after Crew-10’s arrival, but SpaceX had to delay the launch due to problems with the company’s launchpad ground systems.

The delay reignited speculation that Williams and Wilmore were “stranded” in space — a narrative the astronauts have firmly rejected.

“That’s been the narrative from day one: stranded, abandoned, stuck — and I get it, we both get it,” Wilmore told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in February. “Help us change the narrative to: prepared and committed despite what you’ve been hearing.”

From Starliner Setback to SpaceX Rescue

Williams and Wilmore’s mission began in June when they piloted the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. However, the journey was marred by propulsion issues and helium leaks, prompting NASA to keep them at the ISS while assessing the spacecraft’s problems.

By August, NASA decided it would be too risky to bring them home on the Starliner and instead folded them into the station’s regular rotation, setting up their return with SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission.

Elon Musk later claimed that SpaceX had offered to bring Williams and Wilmore home months earlier, but the offer was rejected for “political reasons.” NASA officials have denied this, saying that no such offer was ever formally communicated to agency leadership.

“I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says is absolutely factual,” Wilmore said during a March 4 news conference from the ISS. “But what was offered, what was not offered — that’s information we simply don’t have.”

Williams and Wilmore’s Perspective

Despite the extended stay and swirling controversy, Williams and Wilmore have maintained a positive outlook.

“This is my happy place,” Williams said in September. “I love being up here in space. It’s just fun.”

Wilmore also downplayed the idea of feeling abandoned. “We have plenty of clothes. We are well-fed,” he said in January. “No, it doesn’t feel like we’re castaways.”

Countdown to Homecoming

Once Crew-10 takes over full operations, the Crew-9 astronauts will board their capsule and undock from the ISS, bringing Williams and Wilmore home. Their return was always contingent on the successful arrival of Crew-10, as NASA requires two crews on the station to maintain smooth operations.

NASA has maintained that allowing Crew-9 to leave before Crew-10 arrived would have left only one U.S. astronaut, Don Pettit, aboard the ISS — an unacceptable staffing scenario for NASA and its international partners.

With Crew-10 now safely aboard, Williams and Wilmore’s prolonged journey is finally approaching its conclusion — a homecoming long overdue.