Crew-10 is set to launch to the International Space Station!

Crew-10 will be the 11th human spaceflight with a Crew Dragon capsule for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The launch is scheduled for 23:03 UTC on March 14th, 2025, from historic Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, and it’s going to launch 4 astronauts to the International Space Station.

Crew

The crew is composed of 4 people: NASA astronauts Anne McClain (commander, second flight) and Nichole Ayers (pilot, first flight), JAXA taikonaut Takuya Onishi (mission specialist 1, second flight), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov (mission specialist 2, first flight). Let’s take a more in-depth look at the crew:

Anne McClain

Anne McClain was born on June 7th, 1979, in Spokane, WA. In 1997 she graduated from Gonzaga Preparatory School in her hometown and entered West Point Academy, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical/aeronautical engineering in 2002 as an Army officer; she has also earned a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Bath, England, in 2004, and a Master of Science in international relations at the University of Bristol in 2005.

Following graduate school, McClain started flying and became a pilot for the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout and attack helicopter; she then began a flying career with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Cavalry Regiment at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii and served 15 months in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where she flew a total of more than 800 combat hours on 216 combat missions as a pilot-in-command and Air Mission Commander. In 2009 she was reassigned to the 1st Battalion, 14th Aviation Regiment at Fort Rucker, where she worked first as a battalion operations officer and OH-58D instructor and later as the Commander of C Troop, responsible for their initial training, pilot training, and OH-58D training. She then became a test pilot in June 2013. In total, McClain has more than 2000 flight hours in 20 different aircraft.

In June 2013, the same month that she graduated as a test pilot, she was selected as one of 8 people of NASA’s 21st Astronauts Group. She began training in August, and she completed it in July 2015, being eligible for space missions. On June 6th, 2017, she began training in Russia ahead of a future Soyuz mission, which she was assigned in January 2018… on December 3rd, 2018, she launched on the Soyuz MS-11 vehicle with Oleg Kononenko and David Saint-Jacques, reaching the ISS 6 hours later! There, she spent 204 days in space: for 3 months, the Soyuz MS-11 crew was the only one aboard the ISS, due to the incident of Soyuz MS-10; she conducted her first spacewalk on March 22nd, 2019, with Nick Hague for 6 hours and 39 minutes, and a second spacewalk on April 8th, lasting 6 hours and 29 minutes. She came back to Earth on June 24th, 2019, after 204 days in space!

In 2023, she earned a Master of Science in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.

McClain has been assigned to the Crew-10 mission, and she will serve as Mission Commander, a very well-earned place!

Nichole Ayers

Nichole Ayers was born on December 13th, 1988, in San Diego. She graduated from Woodland Park High School in Woodland Park, Colorado; in 2011 she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in Russian from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, and in 2013 she earned a master’s degree in computational and applied mathematics from Rice University in Houston! The following year she graduated from pilot training and began flying the T-38A, of which she became an instructor; in 2018 she graduated from the F-22 Basic Course and became an instructor of the F-22 Raptor, one of the few women to have reached this milestone. Ayers has over 1400 flight hours on the T-38A, B, C, N, and F-22 Raptor, of which 200 were combat hours in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. She has reached the rank of Major in the U.S. Air Force.

On December 6th, 2021, when she was assistant director of operations in the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, she was selected as a candidate of NASA’s 23rd Astronaut Group, and she conducted her training between January 2022 and March 2024… after only a few months of waiting, on August 1st, 2024, she was assigned as pilot of the Crew-10 mission, and she has been training for this mission since! This early selection makes her the first of her Astronaut Group to go to space.

Takuya Onishi

Takuya Onishi was born on December 22nd, 1975, in Nerima, Japan. He graduated from Seiko Gakuin High School in Yokohama in 1994, and he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Aeronautical and Space Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1998. That year, he joined airline All Nippon Airways at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo and worked as a check-in agent, helping disabled people get onboard. After 3 years of training (2 years of basic flight training in Bakersfield, California, and 1 year of advanced flight training in Tokyo), he became co-pilot of Boeing 767s in October 2003.

In February 2009, he was selected by JAXA as one of the candidates for ISS missions; he began ISS Astronaut Basic Training in April of that year, lasting 2 years. On September 19th, 2011, NASA announced he would serve as an aquanaut during the NEEMO 15 underwater mission, between October 20th and 26th! In February 2015 he was assigned as a crew member of the Soyuz MS-01 mission, and he launched on July 6th, 2011 to the ISS! There, among other things, he became the first Japanese astronaut to capture a Cygnus in space, and he conducted an IVA on August 18th, 2016. He spent 115 days in space before coming back to Earth on October 30th, 2017.

In November 2023 he was chosen for the Crew-10 mission, of which he’ll become the ISS commander!

Kirill Peskov

Kirill Peskov was born on December 1st, 1990, in Kizil. He graduated in 2007 from School No. 14 in Nazarovo, and he successively entered Ulyanovsk Higher Civil Aviation School, graduating as an engineer with the military rank of reserve lieutenant, on June 27th, 2012. From September 2012 to July 2013, he worked as a first officer for Nordwind Airlines onboard Boeing 757; after July 2013, he worked for Ikar Airlines flying Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 aircraft.

On March 14th, 2017, he applied for the new cosmonaut recruitment, and he was accepted on August 10th, 2018. He completed the basic cosmonaut course on December 2nd, 2020, after intensive training. In January 2024, he was selected for the Crew-10 mission as a mission specialist for his first flight to space!

Launch vehicle and capsule

Crew-10, as well as all other Commercial Crew Program missions, is going to board the Crew Dragon capsule, hitching a ride atop a Falcon 9 rocket, both SpaceX’s hardware. Let’s see them:

Falcon 9

Falcon 9 is a 2-stage, medium-lift launch vehicle, capable of carrying up to 22.8 tons to LEO (Low Earth Orbit). The vehicle is approximately 70 m high (65.7 m high when it carries a Crew Dragon) and 3.66 m wide… the first stage is powered by 9 Merlin engines, which are open-cycle, gas-generator rocket engines capable of producing 845 kN of thrust each by burning LOX and RP-1; the second stage is powered by a single Merlin Vacuum engine, which produces 981 kN of thrust. Falcon 9 is the only orbital-class rocket capable of reusability, with the first stage landing either on a drone ship or on a landing zone back at the launch site after separation. In this particular case, the Booster launching is B1090, which is at its 2nd flight after having launched a commercial mission on December 17th, 2024; after separation, the first stage will flip back and conduct an RTLS (Return To Launch Site), culminating in a landing at Landing Zone 1.

Dragon

The Dragon capsule is a crew/cargo capsule developed by SpaceX, which is the only method of getting US crew to the International Space Station (excluding Starliner, which has been successful in bringing the astronauts up but still hasn’t brought them down). Dragon is 8.1 meters high and 4 m wide, with a spacecraft volume (where astronauts are) of 9 m3. There are 2 main parts of Dragon: the trunk is an unpressurized section below, which can hold 37 m3 of volume, including payloads and experiments; the trunk also holds the solar panels, and it burns up on reentry when the capsule comes back to Earth. The capsule is just above, and it houses the astronauts; the spacecraft has the heat shield at the bottom, and it has parachutes for landing; there are 16 Draco thrusters with a thrust of 400 N each for on-orbit maneuvering, and 8 SuperDraco thrusters for an eventual crew escape in the case of an anomaly, with a thrust of 71 kN.

Dragon is a reusable spacecraft as well, since the capsule is reused time after time: the Crew capsule for this launch is named “Endurance,” serial number C210, and this will be its 4th flight after launching Crew-3, Crew-5, and Crew-7.

Mission timeline

Initial preparations - First attempt

- The crew woke up according to their sleep cycle (synched with the mission timeline) at noon ET; then they had breakfast, they had their medical checks done, and then they ate their “ultimate meal” before the launch, a special request they can make to the chefs. Then they started to wear their spacesuits, and they conducted all checks to ensure their readiness! At -T-3h20m they exited the building, and they had the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones (from a distance) before going into the Tesla cars. At T-3h15m the astronauts departed towards the launch site, and while in the cars they had the opportunity to listen to a pre-chosen playlist of their choice.

- T-2h57m: the crew arrived at the launch site, and at pairs they leaned back while hugging to observe the entirety of the rocket. Following this, they took the elevator and pushed the unique “Space” button.

- The crew entered the Crew Dragon, and they got strapped to their seats with the help of the ground support members.

- Starting at T-2h30m, the seats rotated and got into launch position, and the crew started to conduct pressure, leak checks, and comms checks of their suits. Meanwhile, teams were keeping an eye on 3 main things: an hydraulic problem to one of the hold down clamps that hold Falcon 9 vertical, possible high winds on the flight corridor, and a possible range violation. However, as of T-1h10m, these last 2 problems have been surpassed, while there is still doubt on the hydraulic issue.

- At T-44 minutes, SpaceX scrubbed the launch for the day due to the hydraulic issue: that issue was related to a clamp on the transporter erector, used to hold the vehicle vertical until T-5 minutes. The new launch attempt has been scheduled for 23:03 UTC of March 14th; the operations will be approximately the same.

Pre-launch countdown

At T-45 minutes, SpaceX’s Launch Director verifies GO for propellant load; if given a GO, the crew access arm will retract at T-42 minutes, and the launch escape system will be armed at T-39 minutes, ahead of loading RP-1 for both stages and LOX for the first stage at T-35 minutes. The 2nd stage LOX loading will begin at T-16 minutes, followed by engine chill at T-7 minutes (where a part of cryogenic propellant is flowed through the engines’ turbomachinery to cool them and avoid thermal shock at ignition). At T-5 minutes, Dragon will transition to internal power, and at T-1 minute, Falcon 9 is going into startup, where the flight computers take control of the countdown, and propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure will begin. At T-45 seconds, SpaceX’s Launch Director will verify the GO for launch, and at T-3s the engine ignition sequence will start, with a liftoff at T0!

Post-launch timeline

Following liftoff, Falcon 9 will pitch downrange to the desired orbital inclination of 51.6°, and at T+58s it will reach Max-Q, the point of peak mechanical stress on the vehicle. At T+2m26s the 1st stage will shut down its engines, followed 3 seconds later by stage separation using pneumatic pushers and 2nd stage engine ignition at T+2m37s. Meanwhile, the Booster will flip and ignite 3 engines at T+2m43s during its boostback burn, which will end at T+3m30s. While the second stage continues to accelerate upwards, the first stage will begin its coast phase, during which it will deploy its 4 hypersonic titanium grid fins and make small correction maneuvers using its small GN2 thrusters. At T+6m18s the 1st stage will ignite its engines in a 1-3-1 sequence for the 11-second-long entry burn; at T+7m22s the first stage will ignite its center engines to attempt a landing at Landing Zone 1, deploying its 4 landing legs just a few seconds before the landing at T+7m39s. Meanwhile, at T+8m58s, the second stage will shut off its engines, completing its only mission-critical burn; 1 minute later, Dragon will separate and start its free-flying phase of the mission, starting with nosecone opening at T+10m46s.

Post-separation timeline

After opening the nosecone to expose the 4 forward Draco thrusters, the crew onboard will be able to enjoy zero-g gravity and the beautiful views of the Earth! There will be several burns to get the Dragon to a trajectory towards the ISS, including the Approach Initiation Burn, 2 hours from docking. Several checkpoints will need to be passed, including the Approach Ellipsoid and Keep Out Sphere, along with several Waypoints from 0 to 2. If you want to learn more about this, I recommend my article about spacecraft approach and docking! Docking is currently scheduled at 03:30 UTC on March 16th, 28 hours after the launch.

Basically, Crew-10 will lift off in just a few days, and it will mark a significant moment for permanent human LEO presence! I hope you enjoyed the article, and I hope you’ll enjoy the launch and the docking, as well as all other events on the International Space Station and other space topics!

Is this SpaceX’s rescue mission to the stranded astronauts?

You are going to see a lot of headlines like this in the following days, but don’t trust them, and here’s why: the “stranded” astronauts to whom the media refer are Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams, 2 astronauts who went to space on June 5th, 2024, onboard Starliner’s Crewed Flight Test (CFT). The intended duration of the mission was just 8 days, but they’re still up there: this is because the Starliner spacecraft had issues with its thrusters, and the return kept getting delayed until the decision was made, in August, to return the capsule uncrewed. The 2 astronauts knew that this was a possibility and therefore accepted their prolonged stay: Crew-9, launching in September with 4 astronauts as a routine crew rotation mission, was delayed by a month, and the crew was cut down to 2 astronauts to make seats for the 2 Starliner astronauts, which became part of the 6-month scientific mission. This mission here is going as the next rotation mission, and Crew-9 will undock and return to Earth this Sunday. So don’t trust these headlines, since they’re only meant to make the situation bigger and spread misinformation.

Fun fact: Crew-10 was originally meant to launch on the C213 capsule in February… however, issues with preparing this capsule (which will fly for its first time) brought a 1-month delay to NET March 25th; however, SpaceX made the decision to swap capsules, so C210 (meant to launch Axiom 4 in May) was assigned to this mission, and C213 was assigned to Axiom 4, allowing more time for configuration of the capsule. This allowed a launch NET 11 days earlier, and it was particularly pushed by the Elon and Trump administrations (however, it’s likely that it would’ve happened anyway).

Another fun fact is that this mission is going to be the first to implement SpaceX’s new Dragon splashdown sites in the Pacific Ocean instead of the Atlantic Ocean. This move was made to avoid debris from the trunk of the capsule getting over land during atmospheric reentry.

References

NASA's SpaceX Crew-10

Crew-10 Rendezvous Timeline - March 12, 2025 | NASA

Anne C. McClain - NASA

NASA Astronaut Nichole Ayers

Takuya Onishi - Wikipedia

Kirill Peskov - Wikipedia

How to dock and undock with the ISS