Reaching orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free.

A launch pad problem has forced a flight delay to replace NASA's two stuck astronauts. The new crew needs to get to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit.

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Barry Wilmore, and Donald Pettit unbox Thanksgiving meals, from the International Space Station (ISS), in this screen grab taken from a handout video, released on November 26,

The Starliner saga is a step closer to its end with the launch of a SpaceX vehicle that will relieve the astronauts who flew on the Boeing spacecraft.

The crew-swap mission will enable NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth from the International Space Station.

NASA will livestream the launch Friday night of Crew-10, which will in part replace the Starliner astronauts at the International Space Station.