The Crew 10 Dragon capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station early Sunday, delivering four new astronauts to the orbiting laboratory and setting the stage for the return of the Starliner crew after nearly 300 days in space. The Crew Dragon, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on Friday evening, approached the station from below and behind, passing 1,300 feet underneath before moving to a position 720 feet ahead. It then smoothly docked with the Harmony module at 12:04 a.m. EDT.
Once the capsule was securely attached, the crew conducted routine checks before opening the hatch at 1:35 a.m. to enter the station. Anne McClain, the commander of Crew 10 and a former Army helicopter pilot, expressed her excitement about the journey and the view of the space station. She described the experience as indescribable and thanked SpaceX for the remarkable trip.
Co-pilot Nichole Ayers, an Air Force major, also shared her enthusiasm, calling the experience one of the coolest things she had ever done. Alongside McClain and Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, both experienced pilots, joined the station to replace Crew 9 members Nick Hague, Alexander Gorbunov, Barry "Butch" Wilmore, and Sunita Williams.
Three additional crew members, Aleksey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Donald Pettit, arrived last September via a Russian Soyuz and are set to return next month. Wilmore and Williams initially launched on June 5 for a short test flight of Boeing's Starliner, but propulsion issues extended their stay. NASA decided to keep them on the station while the Starliner returned uncrewed, reallocating seats on Crew 9 for their return.
With Crew 10 now aboard, the departing crew will help familiarize the newcomers with station operations before heading back to Earth next week, landing in the Gulf of Mexico. By the time they return, Wilmore and Williams will have spent nearly 290 days in space. Although lengthy, this falls short of the U.S. record of 371 days set by Frank Rubio due to an extended mission caused by a coolant leak in his Soyuz.
Williams, with her previous missions, will become the second most experienced U.S. astronaut, accumulating around 570 days in space, just behind Peggy Whitson's 675 days.