Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Set to Return to Earth on 19 March, confirms NASA
JNS: NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are scheduled to return to Earth on Tuesday evening after spending nearly nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their return comes after a delay, with their initial departure planned for Wednesday but moved up to 5:57 pm EDT on Tuesday (21:57 GMT, 3:30 am IST on March 19) due to worsening weather conditions.
The astronauts will journey back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, alongside fellow American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The Crew Dragon capsule successfully docked at the ISS on Sunday, March 16, with Crew 10 set to replace Williams and Wilmore, along with other Crew 9 astronauts.
Williams and Wilmore had been on the ISS since June 2023 as part of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft test flight. However, propulsion issues with the spacecraft forced NASA to deem it unfit for their return, leading to an extended mission.
NASA confirmed that the rescheduled return allows for crew handover procedures while ensuring a safe journey back to Earth. The agency will provide live coverage of the Crew Dragon’s return, starting with hatch closure preparations on Monday night.
According to the report, their mission being extended beyond expectations, their time in space is still shorter than the US record of 371 days set by astronaut Frank Rubio in 2023 or the world record of 437 days by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov aboard the Mir space station.
