Crew-10 Mission Launched, Two NASA Astronauts Trapped At Space Station Can Finally Go Home

JAKARTA The Crew-10 mission, which will be part of an expedition team on the International Space Station (ISS), has finally flown into orbit. Now, NASA only needs to wait for the plane to arrive at the station's dock.

As usual, NASA uses flight services from SpaceX, a private space company owned by Elon Musk. The Dragon plane carrying the four astronauts was pushed using a Falcon 9 rocket.

Congratulations to the NASA team and SpaceX on the 10th crew rotation mission," said NASA Administrator Janet Petro, quoted from NASA's official broadcast. "Through this mission, we lay the groundwork for future exploration, from low Earth orbits to the Moon and Mars."

The Dragon plane took off with Falcon 9 on Saturday, March 15 at around 06.03 WIB. The aircraft was launched from the 39A Launch Complex at the Kennedy Space Center, one of NASA's flight facilities in Florida.

Hours after launch, NASA announced that Dragon had reached orbit. Currently, NASA is waiting for the aircraft to dock on the ISS automatically. Once docking is done, NASA will prepare for the return of its two astronauts.

Since last year, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have gained a lot of attention for failing to return to Earth. Initially, these two astronauts were part of the Starliner testing mission and were targeted to return home in a few weeks.

However, the launch did not go smoothly because the plane had a leak. To avoid security risks, the two astronauts were asked to temporarily stay on the ISS. Williams and Wilmore' return schedules continued to change over time.

In the end, the two astronauts were assigned to be part of the science expedition team at the station and return home with Crew-9 members. Unfortunately, because they joined the team, these two astronauts could not return until Crew-10 arrived.

They have to make a change of task first and explain what they have done in space. That way, Crew-10 can continue its duties without any problems. This may take a few days to a few weeks.

Williams and Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS for a long time. The two astronauts have been on the ground for nine months and US President Donald Trump continues to urge NASA to return them as soon as possible.