NASA Astronauts Return After 9-Month Stay on International Space Station
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, both of Indian descent, have returned to Earth after spending an unusually long 9-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS). Originally scheduled to stay for about a week, their mission was extended due to technical issues with the spacecraft.
Williams and Wilmore were transported to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. However, the spacecraft returned to Earth unmanned in September due to "helium leaks" and "issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters" during docking with the ISS.
The astronauts were scheduled to return to Earth on March 18, but the SpaceX Crew-9 mission was delayed due to technical problems. NASA announced that it would provide live coverage of the return, with splashdown expected around 5:57 p.m. ET (3 a.m. Wednesday in India).
Elon Musk, the SpaceX owner, suggested that the astronauts could have been brought back earlier with his help. He expressed concern that they were left on the ISS for political reasons, which he believes is not good.
Williams and Wilmore thanked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump for their support. In a video posted by Musk on X, Williams said, "We are coming back before long, so don’t make those plans without me. We’ll be back before too long." Wilmore added, "All of us have the utmost respect for Mr Musk and obviously respect and admiration for our President of the United States Donald Trump. We appreciate them, we appreciate all what they do for us, human spaceflight for our nation, and we’re thankful for the positions they are in."
The crew of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to undock from the ISS and return to Earth. The astronauts are expected to splash down off the coast of Florida at 5:57 p.m. ET (around 3 a.m. Wednesday in India).
Reference : https://zeenews.india.com/world/sunita-williams-butch-wilmore-return-to-earth-journey-begins-today-key-updates-from-nasa-and-more-2873488.html
