SpaceX Capsule Delivers NASA's Replacement Crew

SpaceX Capsule Delivers NASA's Replacement Crew

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NASA's Stuck Astronauts Welcome Their Newly Arrived Replacements to the Space Station

By Marcia Dunn

NASA's stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts Don Pettit, bottom center, hugging Kirill Peskov as astronauts greet each other after a SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Credit: NASA via AP

Just over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA's two stuck astronauts.

The four newcomers—representing the U.S., Japan and Russia—will spend the next few days learning the station's ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Then the two will strap into their own SpaceX capsule later this week, one that has been up there since last year, to close out an unexpected extended mission that began last June.

Wilmore and Williams expected to be gone just a week when they launched on Boeing's first astronaut flight. They hit the nine-month mark earlier this month.

Mission Element Details
Launch Date March 15, 2025
Spacecraft Used SpaceX Crew Capsule
Returning Crew Members Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams
Replacement Crew Members Takuya Onishi, Kirill Peskov, Nichole Ayers, and Don Pettit

The Boeing Starliner capsule encountered so many problems that NASA insisted it come back empty, leaving its test pilots behind to wait for a SpaceX lift.

Wilmore swung open the space station's hatch and then rang the ship's bell as the new arrivals floated in one by one and were greeted with hugs and handshakes.

"It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive," Williams told Mission Control.

Wilmore's and Williams' ride arrived back in late September with a downsized crew of two and two empty seats reserved for the leg back. But more delays resulted when their replacements' brand new capsule needed extensive battery repairs. An older capsule took its place, pushing up their return by a couple weeks to mid-March.

NASA's stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts, including Nichole Ayers, center left, greeting each other after a SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Credit: NASA via AP
NASA's stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts, including Takuya Onishi, center, greeting each other after the SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Credit: NASA via AP
NASA's stuck astronauts welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station
This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts greeting each other after a SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Top row from left: Nick Hague, Alexander Gorbunov, Suni Williams, Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. Bottom row from left: Butch Wilmore, Takuya Onishi, Anne McClain, Kirill Peskov, Nichole Ayers and Don Pettit. Credit: NASA via AP

Weather permitting, the SpaceX carrying Wilmore, Williams and two other astronauts will undock from the space station no earlier than Wednesday and splash down off Florida's coast.

Until then, there will be 11 aboard the orbiting lab, representing the U.S., Russia, and Japan.

© 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.


Explore Further

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NASA's two stuck astronauts are finally closing in on their return to Earth after 9 months in space March 4, 2025 Read more
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