After 9 Months, Astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Head To Earth

Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her crewmate Butch Wilmore have departed the International Space Station (ISS), and are likely to reach home today, March 18. The NASA astronauts are returning to earth after spending nine months in orbit as they had been struck at the ISS.

According to the US space agency NASA, Williams and Wilmore undocked from the ISS at 10:35 am IST and set out on a 17-hour trip back to Earth. The spacecraft, Elon Musk-led SpaceX’s Dragon, is expected to splash down off the coast of the American state of Florida.

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The duo flew to the orbital lab in June last year, which was supposed to be a few-day-long roundtrip to test out Boeing’s Starliner on its first crewed flight. But the spaceship developed propulsion problems and was deemed unfit to fly them back. It then returned empty.

The astronauts’ return has been made possible by the launch of SpaceX Crew-10, developed by NASA in collaboration with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The SpaceX Crew-10 sent its crew into space on March 13 to take back the stranded astronauts.

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It lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Friday night as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission successfully docked at the ISS on Sunday, bringing hope for the long-awaited return of the NASA astronauts. The space capsule, launched on March 14 from Texas, arrived at the ISS at 12:05 AM EST (9:35 AM IST), after a 28.5-hour journey, while the station was about 260 miles above the Atlantic Ocean.