NASA has announced it will attempt to launch the Crew-10 Dragon Capsule to the International Space Station on March 12, to safely return stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Assuming all mission and flight readiness preparations go off without a hitch, this would see the pair return to Earth alongside fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, a few days later.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been "stranded" aboard the international space station since last Summer, when the planned return aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft was scrapped due to a problem with its propulsion system. An alternative solution was sought, and it was decided to bring them back on the next-scheduled SpaceX Dragon capsule launch, Crew-10. However, that was pushed back due to problems with its battery system, allegedly as far as April. NASA's secondary backup plan then came into effect, and it will now bring the pair home on the refurbished Crew-7 capsule.
Until now, the only rough date we had for the planned rescue mission was sometime in March. However, NASA has now locked in the March 12 launch date, with plans to bring the pair home shortly after. The Crew-10 mission will bring replacement astronauts and cosmonauts to the ISS, including Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from NASA, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
When Crew-10 arrives at the space station, Williams and Wilmore will assist in familiarizing the new crew with the space station's particulars and maintenance schedule. Part of the reason NASA didn't want to bring the pair home too early, was to maintain operational parity with the Russian crew aboard the station, thereby enabling streamlined operation of the US portion.
Ahead of the planned launch, NASA and SpaceX are now working to ensure that the Crew-7 capsule is refurbished effectively and ready for launch. That includes refurbishing the "trunk stack, propellant load," as well as transportation to SpaceX's hangar at 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said in a statement.
Until that happens, though, Williams and Wilmore continue to work aboard the ISS, conducting important maintenance and station development tasks. On January 30, they both completed a spacewalk to remove a radio transmission system that needs to be returned to Earth for maintenance. This was the first time they had ever performed a spacewalk together, and brought Williams up to over 60 hours of work outside of spacecraft while in orbit, making her the fourth most experienced astronaut in history to do so.