SpaceX’s Crew-10 astronauts are set to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 12. But in many ways, their journey to orbit started on Wednesday.
That’s because the four crewmembers — NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — have just entered quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. They’ll remain there until five days before launch day, when they’ll be transferred to the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center for final mission preparations.
Quarantine is a necessary and vital part of the prelaunch process as the isolation period ensures that none of the crew take any troublesome bugs or illnesses to the orbital outpost, where other astronauts are already living and working.
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During quarantine, astronauts continue with regular fitness training and undergo daily health assessments, with the continuous monitoring ensuring that any issues are quickly identified and addressed. Quarantined crewmembers also receive vaccinations against common illnesses, among them influenza and measles, to reduce the risk of contracting diseases before the mission.
Visits are usually limited to close family members, and interactions have to be closely monitored to ensure the astronauts’ health remains uncompromised.
Crew-10 is the 10th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The four members will spend around six months aboard the facility, working on research, participating in spacewalks, and no doubt enjoying the awesome views from 250 miles above Earth.
When Crew-10 arrives, Crew-9 astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will spend a short time with the new arrivals before heading home. he
The return trip will be particularly special for Williams and Wilmore. The pair arrived at the ISS in June 2024 in a mission that marked the first crewed flight of Boeing Starliner’s spacecraft. They were only supposed to stay in orbit for a few days, but issues with the vehicle prompted NASA to bring it home empty. Two spare seats on the next Crew Dragon departure will allow them to finally get back to terra firma.