As NASA’s Crew-10 mission closes in on the International Space Station (ISS), a precise dance of space maneuvers is underway. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, Endurance, is expected to dock with the ISS’s Harmony module around 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday (0330 GMT, March 16) — a slight shift from its earlier timeline. Once docked, the new crew will swap spacesuits for standard gear and prep cargo before stepping into their new orbital home.
NASA will stream the docking live from 9:45 p.m. EDT (0145 GMT), with Space.com carrying the feed if available.
Roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes after docking, the hatches between Endurance and the ISS are set to open — a key moment that will see Crew-10 officially join the station’s current occupants. A welcome ceremony is slated to follow about 30 minutes later, offering a symbolic handover.
The incoming quartet features NASA astronauts Anne McClain (commander) and Nichole Ayers (pilot), alongside JAXA’s Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos’ Kirill Peskov, both mission specialists. They will remain aboard the ISS for approximately six months, continuing the station’s ongoing rotation.
The arrival of Crew-10 paves the way for the return of Crew-9 members, including NASA’s Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague and Gorbunov, who launched aboard Crew-9 in late September, will join Williams and Wilmore — who have been on board since June — for the trip home.
Williams and Wilmore’s return holds particular interest: their Boeing Starliner mission, initially a short 10-day outing, turned into a months-long stay after technical failures forced NASA to adapt plans. The two will now return on a SpaceX capsule no earlier than Wednesday, March 19, weather permitting at splashdown sites off Florida.