Latest developments in the mission to rescue two astronauts stranded in space

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore could not hide their joy when they met the crew who came to "rescue" them.

The moment the four members of the SpaceX Crew-10 crew were welcomed immediately after the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station ( Video : NASA).

Eligible to "go home"

On March 16, the Endurance spacecraft, part of SpaceX's Crew-10 mission, successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a 28-hour orbital journey.

Previously, the Endurance spacecraft was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (USA) in the early morning of March 15th.

According to NASA, the Endurance spacecraft docked with the ISS Harmony module at 11:04 AM on March 16th ( Hanoi time) at an altitude of 418 km above Earth.

The Crew-10 crew consists of four members: commander Anne McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers from NASA, mission specialist Takuya Onishi from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Kirill Peskov from the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).

After docking, the Crew-10 crew waited about an hour and a half for the pressure to equalize before officially entering the space lab.

Reportedly, the Crew-10 crew will remain on the ISS to replace those on the Crew-9 mission and the astronauts on Boeing's Starliner mission.

This is also why the Crew-10 mission attracted media attention, as it was seen as a precursor to the "rescue mission" for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were stranded due to a Starliner propulsion system malfunction last June.

Countdown to the rescue of the two stranded astronauts.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to Earth after being stranded on the ISS for nine months (Photo: NASA).

Initially, the two astronauts were only expected to stay for eight days and return to Earth in the same spacecraft that had launched them into orbit. However, technical problems with the Starliner spacecraft led NASA to decide against using it to transport people, resulting in them being "stranded."

To date, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been involuntarily residing on the ISS for over nine months.

According to the schedule, on March 19th, they will return to Earth along with two other astronauts, Nick Hague (NASA) and Aleksandr Gorbunov (Roscosmos), who arrived at the ISS last September aboard the Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft.

The spacecraft remains anchored outside the ISS and has two empty seats available for Williams and Wilmore.

Meanwhile, the Crew-10 crew will continue conducting scientific research and maintaining the space station's systems for the next six months.

The Crew-10 mission is a crucial part of NASA's Commercial Space Cooperation program, affirming SpaceX's role in transporting crews to the ISS. At the same time, this mission demonstrates the close collaboration between NASA, JAXA, and Roscosmos in maintaining a human presence in space.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/khoa-hoc/dien-bien-moi-nhat-su-menh-giai-cuu-2-phi-hanh-gia-mac-ket-ngoai-vu-tru-20250317184617532.htm