SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission achieved a successful docking with the International Space Station early on Sunday morning, marking a key moment in the plan to retrieve two NASA astronauts who had been stranded in orbit for several months.
The SpaceX capsule arrived at the ISS at 12:05 a.m. EST on Sunday, following its launch from Florida just two days earlier on Friday.
A live video feed broadcast the exciting moment of Crew-10’s docking with the ISS, providing viewers with a front-row seat to the event on the social media platform X.
One of the cameras captured the docking from the ISS’s point of view, showing Crew-10’s approach as a swirling cloud cover over Australia slowly rotated in the backdrop.
As the capsule successfully attached to the ISS’s docking port, engineers at both SpaceX and NASA offices on Earth were seen celebrating.
The astronauts aboard Crew-10 made their entry to the ISS shortly before 2:00 a.m. EST.
Upon their arrival, American astronaut Butch Wilmore welcomed the new crew members as they stepped onto the space station.
Sunita “Suni” Williams, with a smile on her face, snapped pictures of her fellow astronauts, one of whom humorously wore an alien mask during the docking process.
The two groups of astronauts greeted each other warmly as they made their way through the hatch, sharing an emotional reunion.
“Houston, thank you for tuning in this early morning,” Williams remarked. “It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive. Thank you so much.”
Williams and Wilmore had been stuck aboard the ISS since June, waiting for the resolution of issues with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which had delayed their return that was originally scheduled for just eight days after their arrival.
The two astronauts were later included in plans to leave following the arrival of Crew-9, which included American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who reached the ISS in August.
However, this plan was eventually scrapped due to the absence of an emergency escape pod for those remaining on the space station.
Now, Williams and Wilmore are set to join Crew-9 as they begin their journey back to Earth. According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, they are expected to start their return flight in the coming days, with Musk confirming the update on X last night.
Crew-10 had originally been scheduled for a Wednesday evening launch, but the mission was delayed due to an issue with a ground support clamp arm on the rocket.
{Matzav.com}
Well done!