BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 targets launching four crew members to the International Space Station by late March 2025.
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The change gives NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission. The new spacecraft will arrive at the company’s processing facility in Florida in early January.
Crew-9 and the entire Expedition 72 space station crew focus on completing research aboard the microgravity laboratory and preparing for upcoming spacewalks. The resupply spacecraft also carried special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform.
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“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager.
“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.”
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After careful consideration, the team determined that launching Crew-10 in late March, following the 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.
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Expedition 72 will end with the undocking and returning 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 and prepare for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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