posted 08-03-2024 02:03 PM               

Please use this topic to discuss SpaceX's Crew Dragon Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station.

posted 10-15-2024 04:44 PM               

The Crew-10 launch is targeted for no earlier than February 2025.

The mission will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov to the space station.

posted 12-17-2024 03:02 PM               

NASA Adjusts Crew-10 Launch Date

NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 now is targeting no earlier than late March 2025 to launch four crew members to the International Space Station.

The change gives NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission. The new spacecraft is set to arrive to the company's processing facility in Florida in early January.

"Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail," said Steve Stich, manager, NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule's readiness for flight."

NASA and SpaceX assessed various options for managing the next crewed handover, including using another Dragon spacecraft and manifest adjustments. After careful consideration, the team determined that launching Crew-10 in late March, following completion of the new Dragon spacecraft, was the best option for meeting NASA's requirements and achieving space station objectives for 2025.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot; JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, mission specialist; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov continue training for the Crew-10 mission at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will return to Earth following the arrival of Crew-10 to the orbital laboratory. Known as a handover period, it allows Crew-9 to share any lessons learned with the newly arrived crew and support a better transition for ongoing science and maintenance at the complex.

Crew-9, along with the full space station crew of Expedition 72, are focused on completing research aboard the microgravity laboratory, and are preparing for upcoming spacewalks. The space station recently received two resupply flights in November and is well-stocked with everything the crew needs, including food, water, clothing, and oxygen. The resupply spacecraft also carried special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform.

Expedition 72 will end with the undocking and return of the Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Don Pettit. Expedition crews regularly spend long-duration missions aboard the space station, with average stays lasting about six months. Several people have supported longer missions, extending to about a year, to help the agency learn more about how humans adapt to spaceflight to prepare for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

posted 02-11-2025 04:04 PM               

NASA, SpaceX update Crew-10 launch date

NASA and SpaceX are accelerating the target launch date for the upcoming crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. The agency's Crew-10 launch now is targeting Wednesday, March 12, pending mission readiness and completion of the agency's certification of flight readiness process.

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 the 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.

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.

posted 03-08-2025 08:25 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by SpaceAngel:
Pad-39A or SLC-40?

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The crew arrived in Florida for their launch on Friday (March 7). (Photos credit: NASA/Kim L Shiflett)

posted 03-08-2025 01:33 PM               

I've really been in awe of watching how in the last couple of months our programs at NASA and the management at SpaceX have been working through some significant technical challenges and always coming out on top. And it really struck me how you know these missions are not easy. They are so complex and it takes a very large team of people who are doing work that at times are thankless.

There are so many people whose names we don't know, who are absolutely the keys to success of in our mission. And I think that I have been very humbled by that.

And so I think as I flew down to, as we flew down to Kennedy Space Center this afternoon, I was just thinking about that. I was thinking about the agency flight readiness review that was going on today. I was thinking about all of the technicians that have their hands on the rocket, on the capsule right now. And there are so many people that are getting this ready as four pilots sitting there.

Our background are all pilots. We're used to pre-flighting our aircraft. You know, we go and we check every single system, every single compartment on the aircraft. We will open up and look at the log books. We can't do that on a rocket or on a capsule. We rely on other people to do that.

So I think that's what inspired my words; was just kind of coming in with a heart of gratitude for all the people that are really making this mission a success.

posted 03-08-2025 10:48 PM            

I'm sure there is a long list of other astronauts, cosmonauts and space tourists awaiting Crew Dragon rides into low earth orbit than those going to the moon right now.

posted 03-10-2025 09:32 AM               

Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete.

SpaceX and NASA are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, March 12 for Falcon 9's launch of Dragon's 10th operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-10) to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch is targeted for 7:48 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Thursday, March 13 at 7:26 p.m. ET.

The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew NASA's Crew-3, Crew-5, and Crew-7 missions to and from the space station. Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

posted 03-12-2025 02:22 PM               

Watch with us as the four members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission launch to the space station from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 7:48 p.m. EDT (2348 UTC) on Wednesday, March 12.

posted 03-12-2025 09:42 PM               

Launch coverage will begin at 3 p.m. on March 14. Docking is targeted for 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, March 15.

posted 03-13-2025 07:24 PM               

On Thursday, SpaceX ground teams completed inspections of the ground support hydraulics system used for the clamp arm supporting the Falcon 9 rocket and successfully flushed a suspected pocket of trapped air in the system.