Crew-10 Returns to Earth After Extended ISS Mission

NASA to Broadcast Splashdown and Key Events Live

Prepare for the homecoming of the International Space Station’s Crew-10. NASA will provide live coverage of their return journey, including hatch closure and undocking, beginning Friday. The mission’s splashdown is scheduled for Saturday, with final splashdown site decisions pending weather.

Mission Recap and Crew Exchange

Crew-10 has spent five months aboard the orbiting laboratory. Their return follows by one week the arrival of the Crew-11 team. The returning astronauts include NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichile Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

The original return date was pushed back by one day due to unfavorable high winds at the planned splashdown locations off the California coast. Weather conditions will continue to be monitored closely by mission control.

Live Coverage Schedule

Friday: Departure from ISS

Coverage begins at 3:45 p.m. with the hatch closure ceremony. Hatch closing is expected around 4:20 p.m. Later in the day, at 5:45 p.m., NASA will broadcast the start of undocking procedures, with the actual undocking occurring at approximately 6:05 p.m.

Following these events, audio-only communications will capture conversations between Crew-10 and the space station as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft begins its voyage back to Earth.

Saturday: Return to Earth

The focus shifts to the spacecraft’s re-entry and splashdown starting at 10:15 a.m. The deorbit burn is scheduled for 10:39 a.m., leading to the anticipated splashdown at 11:33 a.m.

At 1 p.m., a post-return media teleconference will stream live on NASA’s YouTube channel. Participants will include Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program; Dina Contella, deputy manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program; Sarah Walker, director of Dragon Mission Management at SpaceX; and Kazuyoshi Kawasaki, associate director general of JAXA’s Space Exploration Center.

The Crew-11 mission, comprising US astronauts Zena Cardman, Mike Fincke, and Kimiya Yui, alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, arrived at the ISS on Saturday for a six-month stay.

The undocking and splashdown of Crew-10 has been postponed by one day due to weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the California coast. We’re now targeting a return to Earth on Saturday, March 23. https://t.co/lqU2U29XzT

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 21, 2025

This mission marks another successful crew rotation, underscoring the collaborative nature of space exploration. Currently, there are over 200 experiments underway on the ISS, ranging from human health research to advanced materials science, as reported by NASA in early 2024.

You can watch the live coverage on NASA Plus and Amazon Prime. Links to specific event streams can be found on NASA’s website.