Crew-10 Launches for Science Research Aboard Space Station

By Bob Granath

A SpaceX Crew Dragon lifted off at 7:03 p.m. EDT on March 14, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center for the Crew-10 mission. NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia plan a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Ongoing research aboard the orbiting laboratory is designed to benefit humans living on and off the Earth. What is learned in orbit will help NASA prepare for long-term operations on and around the Moon and eventual exploration of Mars.

“The International Space Station is our massive orbiting laboratory,” McClain said as the Crew-10 members arrived at Kennedy on March 7. “We’ve got hundreds of scientific experiments we’re doing every single day. That’s what we are looking forward to be doing.”

NASA and SpaceX postponed a launch attempt on March 12 due to a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at at the launch pad.

“I am extremely proud of our NASA and SpaceX ground engineers and joint operations teams in quickly identifying and resolving this issue,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center.

Following the arrival of the latest crew, a handover process will allow Crew-9 astronauts to transition space station activities to Crew-10, continuing science and maintenance aboard the space station. The handover will mark the beginning of International Space Station Expedition 73. Shortly thereafter, NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will return to Earth splashing down at a site off the coast of Florida.

Williams and Wilmore were launched June 5, 2024 aboard the first Crew Flight Test of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Crew-9 lifted off on Sept. 28, 2024, with Hague and Gorbunov and two unoccupied seats, part of the agency’s decision to return the Boeing Starliner spacecraft uncrewed. The conclusion by NASA and Boeing engineers was due to helium leaks identified in the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters as Starliner approached the space station.

 “Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges,” said Stich. “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.”

“This (Commercial Crew) program has proven this it is able to provide safe, reliable and affordable traveling service back and forth to and from the International Space Station,” McClain said.

Also aboard the space station are the crew of Soyuz MS-26. Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, along with NASA astronaut Donald Pettit launched Sept. 9, 2024 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will be replaced in April after the arrival of the Soyuz MS-27 crew of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky, along with NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim.

The Crew

A native of Spokane, Wash., McClain is a 1997 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical/aeronautical engineering. She also earned a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Bath, England, and a master’s in international relations from the University of Bristol, England. She also went on to be awarded a master’s in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

A colonel in the U.S. Army, McClain is a master Army aviator with more than 2,000 flight hours serving as a pilot and instructor pilot in 20 different aircraft and helicopters. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013, she served as flight engineer on the International Space Station for 204 days during Expedition 58 and 59 in 2018 and 2019.

“I am humbled and honored to be serving as commander of Crew-10,” she said. “We have been working a long time to be ready for this coming mission.”

Ayers and her twin sister, Cydnee, were born in San Diego, but consider Colorado Springs and Divide, Colorado as their hometowns. In 2011, she graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs earning a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. She later was awarded a master’s in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University in Houston.

In 2014, Ayers began flying the T-38A at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. She later became an instructor pilot for the T-38, providing training for the F-22 Raptors at Langley. She was selected to be an astronaut in 2021 and is a major in the U.S. Air Force.

Born in Tokyo, Onishi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and space engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1998. He joined All Nippon Airways in 1998 and was assigned to the Passenger Service Department at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Onishi completed two years of basic flight training in Bakersfield, Calif. and one year of advanced flight training in Tokyo. He was promoted to co-pilot of Boeing 767s in October 2003.

In 2009, Onishi was selected as a JAXA astronaut. He launched aboard Soyuz MS in 2016 with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin. Together they spent 3.5 months aboard the International Space Station a part of Expeditions 48 and 49.

Kirill was born in the city of Kyzyl, Tuva. In 2007, he entered the Ulyanovsk Higher Civil Aviation School’s specialty, Flight Operation of Aircraft department. He graduated in 2012 as an engineer with the military rank of reserve lieutenant. From then until 2013, he was first officer for Nordwind Airlines, flying the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft.

Appointed as a cosmonaut in 2018, Kirill was selected for Crew-10 mission in January 2024 under the Dragon-Soyuz cross-crew flight system to allow the station to remain continuously crewed.

The Spacecraft

The SpaceX Crew Dragon is an autonomous spacecraft designed to deliver a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth orbit. The capsule is 27 feet high and 13 feet in diameter. For NASA trips to the International Space Station, the Crew Dragon will carry from four to seven NASA-sponsored crewmembers and return astronauts with about 6,600 pounds of time-critical scientific research experiments and equipment.

The capsule’s trunk is an integral element of the spacecraft, containing solar panels, heat-removal radiators, and fins to provide aerodynamic stability in the unlikely event of an emergency abort.

The Falcon 9 launch vehicle is 229 feet tall and is 12 feet in diameter. The first stage has nine engines generating 1,710,000 pounds of thrust. The second stage has one engine with 210,000 pounds of thrust. Propellant for both stages is RP-1, highly refined kerosene, and liquid oxygen. Like the Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first stage of the rocket is reusable. The Falcon 9 first stage returns to either a landing pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station or a SpaceX drone ship off shore.

The Mission

During Crew-9’s stay aboard the space station, the astronauts contributed to hundreds of scientific experiments, including swabbing the station’s exterior for microbes, printing 3D medical devices and studying how moisture, orbital altitude and ultraviolet light affect plant growth. Similarly, Crew-10 will conduct scientific experiments and technology demonstrations to benefit life on Earth and prepare for NASA’s future human exploration efforts. The first cargo flight of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser also is planned doing the mission.

“Crew-9 has been doing a spectacular job the pat six months,” McClain said. “We’re looking forward to doing the the same when we get to the space station.”

Following the arrival of Crew-11 in September 2025, McClain, Ayers, Onishi and Peskov plan to autonomously depart the space station, re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down. A SpaceX recovery vessel will pick up the spacecraft and crew. NASA plans to announce the four-person crew in the near future.

McClain further emphasized the importance of teamwork.

According to NASA’s website, “NASA’s Commercial Crew Program partnership is changing the arc of human spaceflight history by opening access to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station to more people, more science, and more commercial opportunities.”

“If you want to go fast, you go alone,” she said. “If you want to go far, you go together. Look at what we do when we work together.”

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Crew-10 Lifts Off to International Space Station

Check out this short video of the liftoff of NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia. Video courtesy of NASA