After a few days' delay, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched the Crew Dragon space capsule from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station on Friday. On board are Americans Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese Takuya Onishi, and Russian Kirill Peskov.
After their arrival, a total of 11 crew members will stay at the International Space Station. But not for long: four astronauts will return to Earth in a few days, or by Wednesday at the latest. Remember, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the International Space Station last year in the new Boeing Starliner space capsule for a week-long stay in space. The Starliner ended up returning to Earth unmanned for technical reasons, and the two astronauts' return date was postponed. NASA has finally decided to allow them to return in a spacecraft from Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, a space exploration company, in early 2025.
According to NASA, Crew-10 will conduct material ignition tests during its mission to contribute to the design of future spacecraft and facilities. Crew-10 will connect with students worldwide through the ISS Ham Radio program and test a backup lunar navigation solution. The astronauts will also serve as experimental subjects, with one crew member conducting an integrated study to better understand physiological and psychological changes in the human body to provide valuable insights for future deep space missions.
As The Japan Times pointed out, this will be Takuya Onishi's second trip to the ISS, and he will be in command again. The last time he visited the space station was in 2016 when he went up in a Russian Soyuz. You can also follow the J
apanese astronaut on X.
The team is scheduled to spend six months in space.
