SpaceX Dragon’s hatch opened, and Crew-10’s four astronauts entered the ISS

On March 16, 2025, at 1:35 a.m. ET, the hatch of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft opened, allowing the four members of Crew-10 Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers (NASA, USA), Takuya Onishi (JAXA, Japan), and Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos, Russia) to enter the International Space Station (ISS).

This marked the 10th crew rotation mission under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 14 via a Falcon-9 rocket.

After a 28-hour journey, the spacecraft docked with the ISS at 12:04 a.m. ET on March 16. A key objective of this mission is to bring American astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth, who have been stranded on the ISS since June 2024 due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner. Their return is tentatively scheduled for March 19, 2025.

The Crew-10 members will remain on the ISS for the next four months, conducting over 200 scientific experiments, including studies on material flammability, the effects of space on the human body, and tests of new technologies crucial research for future Mars missions.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named “Endurance,” previously used in multiple missions, is capable of autonomously docking with the ISS and was monitored by SpaceX’s control center in Hawthorne, California, and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

This mission exemplifies international collaboration between the United States, Japan, and Russia, playing a vital role in maintaining a human presence on the ISS and advancing space exploration. Sunita Williams’ journey and eventual return continue to inspire millions worldwide.