The Crew-10 mission, a routine crew rotation flight, has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), marking an important milestone for astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore. This mission, long-awaited and entangled in political discussions, will allow the two astronauts to finally return home after spending over nine months on the orbiting laboratory. The Crew-10 team includes Americans Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi, and Russian Kirill Peskov.
Williams expressed her excitement as she looked forward to reuniting with her family and two dogs. Shortly after the Crew-10 colleagues emerged onto the orbital lab, Williams shared her feelings about the reunion.
"It’s been a rollercoaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us." – Suni Williams
The arrival of Crew-10 has been described as a significant first step toward bringing back Williams and Wilmore. McClain, part of the newly arrived crew, expressed the crew's joy upon nearing the space station.
"Hi everybody down there on Earth. Crew-10 has had a great journey up here, about 28 hours to get back up to the space station. And I cannot tell you the immense joy of our crew when we looked out the window and saw the space station for the first time." – Anne McClain
The mission faced delays due to political influences when former President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk pushed for a quicker launch. Despite these challenges, the successful docking signifies a critical step in maintaining continuous human presence aboard the ISS.
As for McClain, her experience in orbit has been nothing short of awe-inspiring.
"You can hardly even put it into words … orbiting the Earth for the last couple of days, it has been absolutely incredible." – Anne McClain