Sunita Williams’ Return: After a nine-month-long overstay, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to return to Earth tomorrow, with the crew preparing to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) today.
Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore, with astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are preparing to return to the Earth after a nine-month-long overstay at the International Space Station (ISS). Their return to Earth is part of a contingency plan devised by NASA with technical assistance from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
Sunita Williams return | Key points
- The four-member crew is poised to undock from the ISS at 1:05 am ET (10:35 am IST) and begin a 17-hour trip back to Earth.
- The replacement crew will be handed over the responsibilities of the mission before Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore return to Earth.
- Their return was scheduled to begin initially on Wednesday night, but NASA postponed the journey as unfavourable weather are expected to prevail later in the week.
- The four-member crew expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico at 5:57 pm ET on Tuesday (3:27 am IST, Wednesday). The exact location of the landing will depend on local weather conditions.
- ‘Butch and Suni’ travelled to the ISS in June last year for a scheduled eight-day mission. They were forced to stay as Boeing Starliner capsule developed issues with its propulsion system.
- The duo was the first crew to fly Boeing’s Starliner in a test flight. The faulty capsule returned to Earth last September.
- US President Donald Trump and his close adviser Elon Musk – SpaceX’s CEO – have sought to blame, without evidence, former President Joe Biden for the astronauts’ plight.
NASA’s Mission Control Centre Houston said the crew members’ suits are of “good integrity” after checking for prospective leaks. The agency said live coverage for the undocking from the ISS will resume by 12:45 am EST, Tuesday.