Anne McClain and Crew-10 arrive at International Space Station
Crew-10 claps and smiles as they are welcomed aboard the International Space Station. Crew-10's commander and Spokane astronaut Anne McClain, third from left, joins in the applause. (NASA video)
Spokesman-Review reporter Nick Gibson was in Florida last week to report on Anne McClain’s and NASA’s SpaceX launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Follow along in print and online at spokesman.com/sections/return-to-space.
Spokane astronaut and Crew-10 commander Anne McClain has arrived at the International Space Station.
The SpaceX Dragon docked at the station at 9:04 p.m. Pacific on Saturday.
The 250-mile trek took just shy of 29 hours, despite traveling at speeds as high as 17,000 mph.
The arrival of Crew-10, composed of McClain, fellow NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, means Crew-9 (NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore) will be coming back to Earth in short order.
U.S. Space Force Col. Nick Hague, aboard the ISS, donned an alien mask while awaiting Crew-10’s passage from the space craft. Williams, all smiles, stood nearby with a photo camera in hand as Wilmore cleared and checked for any debris in the area. The Dragon hatch opened at 10:35 p.m., and 10 minutes later Crew-10 boarded the space station.
Onishi was the first to board, welcomed with cheers, clapping, smiles and hugs all around, followed by Peskov and Ayers. McClain was the last to board.
“Hi everybody on Earth,” McClain said on a live feed after taking a group photo minutes after boarding. ” … Let me tell you, that is such an amazing journey. You can hardly put it into words.”
Williams and Wilmore, who had a weeklong stint aboard the station turn into a monthslong stay after the Boeing Starliner they traveled to the station was deemed unfit to bring them home.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, in which private companies partner with the space agency and international governments for transportation to the orbiting laboratory’s staff, stressed Friday that this is a shift change, not a rescue mission, and pushed back against the narratives that have plagued the pair’s stay.
“It’s the first principle in space flight, you always have a way for the crew to come home,” Stich said. “And Butch and Suni have had a way to come home.”
That “way to come home” has changed slightly, but there has always been a capsule attached to the station they could hop into, if need be.
“To me, we are embarking upon a handover with two crews, and Butch and Suni happen to be part of the expedition,” Stich said.
Dina Contella, NASA’s deputy manager of the International Space Station Program, said in a news conference Friday that Crew-9 could return as soon as Wednesday, weather permitting. The space agency is shooting for a shorter handover than usual to make the most of any potential return opportunities and to limit the consumption of the station’s food supply before more supplies arrive.
“Last year, we had some handovers that were more extended, waiting on good weather, and so we don’t want to lose any good opportunities that we might have,” Contella said.