ISS Expedition 72/73

Mission Profile

Overview

SpaceX Crew-10 arrived under intense public attention, because its launch finally cleared the way home for the Boeing Starliner crew whose eight-day test flight had stretched into nine months. Commander Anne McClain — back for her second flight after Expedition 58/59 — led pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA's Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov aboard Crew Dragon Endurance. For Onishi, on his second mission nearly a decade after Soyuz MS-01, the flight marked a return as a station leader; he went on to command Expedition 73. McClain and Ayers also flew an all-female spacewalk pairing during the increment. Across Expeditions 72 and 73 the crew ran a dense slate of microgravity science before Endurance splashed down off the California coast on 9 August 2025 after 147 days, capping a rotation defined as much by orbital politics as by research.

Crew

Key Milestones

1. 2025-03-14

   Crew-10 launches aboard Crew Dragon Endurance from KSC LC-39A

2. 2025-03-16

   Dragon docks to the ISS, enabling the delayed Starliner crew's return

3. 2025-04-19

   Expedition 73 begins; Takuya Onishi later commands the increment

4. 2025-08-09

   Crew Dragon Endurance splashes down off California after 147 days

Key Achievements

• Crew-10's arrival enabled the long-delayed Starliner crew to finally return home

• Anne McClain's second spaceflight and command of a Crew Dragon

• Takuya Onishi went on to command Expedition 73

Related Missions

Sources

1. Wikipedia: SpaceX Crew-10
2. NASA: SpaceX Crew-10 launches to ISS
3. Wikipedia: Expedition 73