SpaceX won four people on Space on Friday, launching a mission to allow astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to return to Earth after a nine-month stay on the International Space Station.
The mission, known as Crew-10, will see SpaceX’s Dragon Spacecraft Dock along with the International Space Station (ISS) late Saturday. The new astronaut overlaps with the existing crew for several days before Williams and Wilmore (along with the other two) return to our planet. It could happen soon on March 19th, and the weather is allowed.
While the SpaceX crew has become a routine start to the ISS, this mission is expected hotly as the way Williams and Wilmore arrived at the station in the first place, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been a long-term stay with former President Joe Biden.
The duo was part of the first crew of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft last June. The test mission was considered an important milestone in Boeing’s quest to compete with SpaceX for these types of crew to the ISS.
Starliner was to dock Williams and Wilmore for 10 days before returning them to Earth. However, the spacecraft experienced leakage and thruster issues, and Starliner delayed docking on the ISS.
The Starliner, coupled with the station, was eventually able to be boarded by astronauts. However, Boeing and NASA spent weeks testing and analysis before deciding to bring Starliner back to Earth in August.
NASA and SpaceX agreed to bring the astronauts home on their next crew mission. They bumped two astronauts from that flight to accommodate Williams and Wilmore’s return. A return flight was scheduled for February 2025. According to NASA, previous flights would have left the ISS in place.
But Williams and Wilmore are on the ISS, but Musk has been elected for the second time by Donald Trump, launching government efficiency. Musk began to say in both X and the interview – that he offered to bring the astronaut back to the previous state, but Biden refused for political reasons.
Musk does not provide any evidence to support this claim. Former NASA administrator and deputy manager under Biden said Musk’s offer would not reach the Space Agency’s headquarters.
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