Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore Set to Return to Earth from Space on March 19
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Synopsis
Indian-Origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore are set to return to Earth from the ISS on March 19, after nearly 10 months in space. Their return follows the launch of Crew-10 on March 12, which will bring new astronauts to the ISS.
Key Takeaways
- Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore will return on March 19.
- They have spent about 10 months in space.
- The Crew-10 mission launches on March 12.
- NASA is expediting their return due to previous delays.
- The astronauts feel prepared for the challenges of space travel.
New Delhi, Feb 14 (NationPress) Indian-Origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Willmore are scheduled to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on March 19, after completing approximately 10 months in space.
Williams and Willmore have been in orbit since June last year due to technical difficulties with Boeing's Starliner, which ferried them to the ISS. In a statement to the media from space, the astronaut pair mentioned that they will return after the Crew-10 mission commences its journey from Earth to the ISS on March 12 for a six-month expedition.
The Crew-10 mission will transport NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov to the space station.
Following the handover, the Crew-9 mission, which includes Williams, Willmore, Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, is set to return to Earth. “The plan dictates that Crew-10 will launch on March 12, conduct a turnover for a week, and we will return on March 19,” astronaut Willmore stated in a CNN interview.
Although their return was initially slated for March 25, NASA and SpaceX expedited the launch schedule for Crew-10 and the return of the astronauts who had been stranded.
The agency’s Crew-10 launch is now aiming for 7:48 p.m. EDT on March 12. The Crew-9 mission is organized for its return to Earth after a several-day overlap period with the newly arrived Crew-10 expedition crew, according to the US space agency.
NASA revealed that the previous launch opportunity became available after mission management chose to utilize a previously flown Dragon spacecraft named Endurance, instead of the originally intended Dragon.
This development follows a request from US President Donald Trump for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to ensure the prompt return of both Williams and Willmore. Musk remarked that it was “terrible” for the duo to be left “stranded” at the ISS for such an extended period, despite NASA having engaged SpaceX months prior for the return as part of its Crew-9 mission.
However, the astronauts clarified that “they were neither stuck nor stranded in space as claimed.” “Human spaceflight is filled with unforeseen challenges, and we were prepared for it,” stated Willmore and Williams.
Consequently, the earlier launch of Crew-10 is anticipated to delay Axiom's scheduled Crew Dragon flight that aims to take Subhanshu Shukla—the first Indian to the ISS—along with astronauts from Poland and Hungary into space.
