NASA and SpaceX made another attempt on Friday to send a crew up to the International Space Station (ISS) and begin the return of a pair of astronauts.
After a scrubbed attempt this week, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission successfully lifted off Friday evening from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida headed for the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Sunita „Suni“ Williams and Butch Wilmore are now one step closer to returning home from the ISS.
Powered by a Falcon 9 rocket, the spacecraft reached a speed of 17,500 mph as it headed into space after lifting off on Friday at 7:03 p.m. ET.
Docking at the ISS is scheduled for Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET. They will open the hatch and enter the station at 1:05 a.m. ET on Sunday.
The launch was initially planned for Wednesday evening but postponed due to a problem with a ground support clamp arm on the Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX subsequently said the hydraulic system issue was fixed and the crew was once again cleared for take-off on Friday.
Dragon is transporting the Crew-10 team made up of NASA astronaut Anne McClain, the mission’s commander; NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, the mission pilot; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi; and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, with Roscosmo, Russia’s space agency.
