Tag: Nichole Ayers

NASA, SpaceX Update Crew-10 Launch, Crew-9 Return Dates

Photo shows two men and two men as part of the NASA's SpaceX Crew-10
The official portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members with (from left) Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos; Pilot Nichole Ayers and Commander Anne McClain, both NASA astronauts; and Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Photo credit: NASA/Bill Stafford/Helen Arase Vargas

Editor’s note: This blog was updated on Feb. 12, 2025, to add the target launch time.

NASA and SpaceX are accelerating the target launch and return dates for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from the International Space Station. The agency’s Crew-10 launch now is targeting 7:48 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, March 12, pending mission readiness and completion of the agency’s certification of flight readiness process. The Crew-9 mission is planned for return to Earth following a several day handover period with the newly arrived Crew-10 expedition crew.

The earlier launch opportunity is available following a decision by mission management to adjust the agency’s original plan to fly a new Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-10 mission that requires additional processing time. The flight now will use a previously flown Dragon, called Endurance, and joint teams are working to complete assessments of the spacecraft’s previously flown hardware to ensure it meets the agency’s Commercial Crew Program safety and certification requirements. Teams will work to complete Dragon’s refurbishment and ready the spacecraft for flight, which includes trunk stack, propellant load, and transportation to SpaceX’s hangar at 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to be mated with the mission’s Falcon 9 rocket. This will be the fourth mission to the station for this Dragon, which previously supported the agency’s Crew-3, Crew-5, and Crew-7 flights.

“Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges. Our operational flexibility is enabled by the tremendous partnership between NASA and SpaceX and the agility SpaceX continues to demonstrate to safely meet the agency’s emerging needs,” said Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We greatly benefit from SpaceX’s commercial efforts and their proactive approach in having another spacecraft ready for us to assess and use in support of Crew-10.”

The change also will allow SpaceX, which owns and operates the Dragon fleet, to complete the new spacecraft’s interior build and perform final integration activities, while simultaneously launching Crew-10 and returning Crew-9 sooner.

The Crew-10 mission will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander; and Nichole Ayers, pilot; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, mission specialist; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, mission specialist, to the space station.

After Crew-10 arrives to the space station, Crew-9 will help the newly arrived crew familiarize with ongoing science and station maintenance work, which supports a safer transition of operations aboard the orbital complex. Following the handover, NASA and SpaceX will prepare to return to Earth NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard Crew-9 pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida.

NASA Updates 2025 Commercial Crew Plan

Image of the International Space Station in 2021.

The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021. Photo credit: NASA/Thomas PesquetNASA and its industry partners Boeing and SpaceX continue planning next year’s missions to the International Space Station for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. While significant work remains to prepare for these flights, the agency expects a busy year of in-orbit activities and is planning windows of opportunity for mission teams to target, pending operational readiness and station traffic.

Crew-10
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission is targeting no earlier than February 2025. The mission will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov to the space station to conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations. This mission will be the second spaceflight for McClain and Onishi, and the first for Ayers and Peskov.

Crew-9, which arrived at the space station on Sept. 29, carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Grubonov, will return to Earth with NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore accompanying Hague and Gorbunov, following a short handover with Crew-10.

Crew-11
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 will be the second crew rotation flight of 2025 and is targeted for no earlier than July to benefit the space station needs, including accommodating resupply flights and other operations aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA will announce the four-person crew at a later date.

Next Starliner Flight
The timing and configuration of Starliner’s next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing’s path to system certification is established. This determination will include considerations for incorporating Crew Flight Test lessons learned, approvals of final certification products, and operational readiness.

Meanwhile, NASA is keeping options on the table for how best to achieve system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025.

NASA will provide more information when available.

For more on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program missions to the orbiting laboratory follow the commercial crew blog and the program’s social media accounts via @commercial_crew on X and commercial crew on Facebook.