NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Enters Quarantine Ahead of Launch

Four crew members set to launch aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station entered routine pre-flight quarantine on February 26 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, will spend the final two weeks before launch in isolation to prevent exposure to any illnesses before they meet with existing crew members aboard the space station.  

Crew-10 will arrive at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, March 7, where they’ll remain in quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building as they complete final launch preparations.  

The crew is targeted to launch at 7:48 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 12, aboard a Dragon spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy. 

Crew-10 is the 10th crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The crew will spend several months aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting spacewalks, research demonstrations, and experiments for the benefit of humanity and deep space exploration. 

The agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will return to Earth following the arrival of Crew-10 to the orbital laboratory. Known as a handover period, it allows Crew-9 to share any lessons learned with the newly arrived crew and support a better transition for ongoing science and maintenance on board. Ahead of Crew-9 return, mission teams will review weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida prior to departure from the space station. 

More details about the launch will be posted on the mission blog, @commercial_crew on X, or commercial crew on Facebook.