SpaceX and NASA have launched a mission to bring back US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS), where they have been stranded for nine months.
The launch took place at 7:03 ET on Friday, with a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft as part of the Crew-10 mission.
The mission also sent four crew members to the ISS: NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
Crew-10 marks the 10th crew rotation mission under SpaceX’s human space transportation system and the 11th crewed flight to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, including the Demo-2 test flight.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS since June last year. Originally, their stay was intended to last about a week.
Ahead of the launch, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth shared a video message expressing his support for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10, Fox News reported.
In a video posted on X, Hegseth said, “I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you.” He added, “We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon.” “President Trump said to Elon Musk, ‘get the astronauts home and do it now’ – and they’re responding,” Hegseth said.
“And they’re bringing NASA astronauts, [who] also happen to be retired US Navy Capt. Butch Wilmore and retired US Navy Capt. Suni Williams, home,” he added, as reported by Fox News.
(With inputs from ANI)