United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have been stranded on the International Space Station for over nine months, are returning to Earth. The pair undocked from the International Space Station at 10:35 AM (IST) and are now on a 17‑hour journey home.
The Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations have begun and will be touching down on Earth at 3:27 AM tomorrow.
In an official statement, NASA confirmed that conditions are favourable for the Crew-9 mission’s return, with the astronauts expected to splash down in the ocean off the Florida coast.
In addition, a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft will soon carry NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov back to Earth. These crew members have been on the ISS since June of last year, following the maiden crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, which encountered technical issues that rendered it unsuitable for their return journey.
