Launched on March 14, 2025, the is a collaborative effort that involves four of the top space agencies, NASA, SpaceX, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Roscosmos. The crew that this mission has taken to the space station is made up of four people from different nationalities. It has NASA astronauts Anne McClain, who’s the commander of the mission, and Nichole Ayers, another astronaut from NASA, who’s the pilot of the mission.
Apart from them, it has two more astronauts, one from JAXA named Takuya Onishi and another from Roscosmos, Kirill Peskov. Notably, this Crew-10 mission marks the first spaceflight for Ayers and Peskov, while McClain and Onishi have previous experiences of staying in space stations.
However, the important part is that on Friday, the Crew-10 launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, sending four astronauts to bring stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore home. The rocket successfully .
This Crew-10 mission highlights the importance of private organizations like SpaceX in supporting and sustaining the ISS. Starting in 2012, has been one of the most essential parts of ISS in transporting cargo. From 2020 onward, it has introduced crewed missions to the station. Now, the increased capacity of the Dragon spacecraft to carry up to seven passengers enhances the flexibility and frequency of crew rotations, and it simultaneously ensures that ISS remains operational and continues its journey without any hindrance.
