Astronauts stranded in space for 9 months are returning to Earth
Two astronauts who have been at the International Space Station (ISS) for nearly 9 months have begun their journey back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
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NASA broadcast the departure of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the ISS live. These two astronauts had remained in space longer than planned due to a technical malfunction. They are being accompanied on their return journey by NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
The return journey is expected to take approximately 17 hours. If weather conditions are favorable, the capsule is scheduled to splash down off the coast of Florida. Wilmore and Williams were sent to the ISS on June 5, 2024, for a one-week test flight aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule. However, their return was delayed due to technical issues with the Starliner, and the capsule returned empty.
During this process, the new crew replacing Wilmore and Williams arrived at the ISS on March 16 via a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The Crew-10 team, consisting of members from the US, Japan, and Russia, received training on the ISS for several days. This team includes Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from NASA, Takuya Onishi from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Kirill Peskov from the Russian Federal Space Agency.