NASA reveals astronauts flying on SpaceX's Crew-10 mission to the ISS

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Crew-10 will consist of two NASA astronauts and one spaceflyer apiece from Japan and Russia.

two men and two women in blue flight suits stand in front of a model of the international space station
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members, pictured from left to right: NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi. (Image credit: NASA)

We now know who will fly on SpaceX's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year.

On Thursday (Aug. 1), NASA revealed the four astronauts of Crew-10, which will launch toward the ISS no earlier than February 2025.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers will command and pilot the mission, respectively. Japan's Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will both serve as mission specialists.

Crew-10 will be the first spaceflight for Ayers and Peskov, who were selected by their respective space agencies in 2021 and 2018. Ayers is the first member of her astronaut class to be selected for flight, NASA officials said in a statement on Thursday.

It will be the second space mission for both McClain and Onishi. McClain — a colonel in the U.S. Army and a former member of the U.S. Women's National Rugby Team — lived aboard the ISS from December 2018 to June 2019, serving as a crewmember on the orbiting lab's Expeditions 58 and 59. She led two spacewalks during her 204 days in orbit, spending a total of 13 hours and 8 minutes outside the station, according to NASA.

Onishi was part of the ISS' Expeditions 48 and 49. He launched to the station on July 6, 2016, and came back to Earth 115 days later.

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As its name suggests, Crew-10 will be the 10th operational mission that SpaceX flies to the ISS for NASA. Like other SpaceX astronaut flights, Crew-10 will employ the company's Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule.

SpaceX is in the middle of its eighth contracted, long-duration ISS mission. It's gearing up for the launch of Crew-9, which is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 18.

Like SpaceX, Boeing holds a commercial crew contract with NASA. But Boeing hasn't moved as quickly; the aerospace giant's Starliner capsule is in the middle of its first crewed test flight to the ISS. That mission, called Crew Flight Test (CFT), launched on June 5 and was supposed to last just 10 days or so. 

However, Starliner experienced helium leaks and thruster issues while in space, and its crewed debut has been extended numerous times as a result. The capsule and its two NASA astronauts remain docked to the station, and NASA has not yet announced a target departure date.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • gybognarjr
    Boeing should be penalized for doing a poor job, despite the fact that they received almost twice as much money than Space X to develop a new spaceship. NASA should have cancelled their contract in 2019, when the deadline to produce the spaceship was. There could be better, more responsible, less wasteful and less corrupt companies building the next generation of spaceships. Boeing is a has been company, it is now a failed McDonnell-Douglas Co., masquerading as the once excellent Boeing Company. They developed an unnaturally close and influential relationship with the decision makers of the Pentagon and members of the Congress, that should be stopped immediately. Boeing should be put on probation, their management should be replaced entirely with competent people with the best engineering and management experience. The Government should defend our best interest and demand the best work from a nationally very important leader in the defense industry and civilian plane builder.
    Reply