The Crew-10 astronauts from Space X Dragon, dressed in darker blue attire, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) and embraced the astronauts already stationed there. Two astronauts who had been stranded on the ISS for over nine months were one step closer to returning home as a replacement crew successfully docked at the orbital outpost on Sunday.
The emotional reunion between the astronauts was captured live on TV as they embraced each other in zero gravity following the arrival of the SpaceX Crew Dragon craft at 5:45 am. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had been on the ISS since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing encountered propulsion issues on its first crewed mission, rendering it unable to bring them back to Earth.
Williams expressed her joy, calling it a “wonderful day” and remarking on how great it was to see their friends arrive as her colleagues entered the orbiting laboratory. Footage shared online by Nasa astronaut Don Pettit showed the Crew Dragon vehicle approaching the ISS as it circled the Earth.
The extended stay of Wilmore and Williams, lasting nine months, was longer than the usual six-month visit for astronauts on the ISS but shorter than the US space record held by Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio and the world record set by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov. The unexpected nature of their prolonged mission away from their families sparked global interest and sympathy.
The Crew-10 team, including Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will now prepare for departure and a splashdown off the Florida coast, scheduled no earlier than March 19. The astronauts will be joined by Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from Nasa, Takuya Onishi from Japan, and Kirill Peskov from Russia on their return journey aboard the Dragon capsule.
During their mission, the new crew will conduct various scientific experiments, such as flammability tests for future spacecraft designs and research on the effects of space on the human body.
