Stranded astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore set to return as replacement crew docks at ISS

After a technical glitch halted the return mission of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore on March 13, the replacement crew finally docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on March 16 morning.

The launch of the Falcon 9 was stopped just an hour before it was set to lift off from Florida, carrying four astronauts who were supposed to have replaced Williams and Wilmore.

On March 16 the Crew-10 mission, launched aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, carrying four astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi, and Russia's Kirill Peskov.

They arrived at the ISS at approximately 9:40 AM IST, facilitating the departure of the Crew-9 astronauts (Williams and Wilmore).
The spacecraft smoothly docked, and was welcomed aboard by the existing Expedition 72 crew.

As Crew-10 joins the Expedition 72 crew of NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Don Petitt, Sunita Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, the number of crew aboard the space station has now increased to 11.

Crew-9 members Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov will return to Earth following the crew handover period.

Williams and Wilmore, whose final phase of the prolonged mission begins now, found themselves stranded in orbit due to technical failures.

Initially launched aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule on June 5, 2024, the duo’s return was delayed due to helium leaks and thruster malfunctions in their original spacecraft.