U.S. launches new crewed mission to bring home stranded astronauts

LOS ANGELES, March 15 (Xinhua) -- NASA and SpaceX launched a new crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday to bring home two NASA astronauts who have been stranded in space since last June.

The spacecraft lifted off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in the state of Florida at 7:03 p.m. Friday Eastern Time (2303 GMT), according to a NASA live broadcast.

About two and a half minutes after the launch, SpaceX confirmed the successful separation of the rocket's first stage. The first stage booster landed at Landing Zone 1 located near the launch pad.

The spacecraft is currently en route to the ISS. It will take about 28.5 hours for the spacecraft to autonomously dock to the space station, scheduled at 11:30 p.m. Saturday Eastern Time (0330 GMT Sunday), NASA said.

The new mission, codenamed Crew-10, carries NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and cosmonaut Kirill Peskov with Russian state space corporation Roscosmos to the ISS.

During their mission, Crew-10 is scheduled to conduct material flammability tests to contribute to future spacecraft and facility designs, NASA said, adding that the crew will engage with students worldwide via the ISS ham radio program and use the program's existing hardware to test a backup lunar navigation solution.

Also, one crew member will conduct an integrated study to monitor and analyze physiological and psychological changes in the human body, providing valuable insights for future deep space missions.

Following the arrival of Crew-10 to the orbital laboratory, NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission -- which includes NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov -- will return to Earth.

Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in space since last June due to technical problems of Boeing's Starliner which took them to the ISS.

The two astronauts were initially scheduled for an eight-day mission in space, but numerous issues were detected during their trip to the ISS, including helium leaks and propulsion issues. As a result, NASA deemed the Starliner spacecraft unsafe to return with astronauts on board.

While the Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth last September, Williams and Wilmore remained aboard the ISS for several additional months. ■