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NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally heading back to Earth. The two were meant to stay on the International Space Station (ISS) for eight days, but their mission was unexpected extended nearly nine months after the spacecraft that they arrived on faced technical problems. The two are now heading back to Earth in a SpaceX capsule, alongside NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Keep reading to find out more… They undocked from the ISS at around 1 a.em. ET on Tuesday (March 18) and are set to arrive back off the coast of Florida later the same day, at around 6 p.m. ET. The landing time will depend on weather conditions. When the SpaceX Dragon capsule enters through the Earth’s atmosphere, the astronauts will experience significant g-forces, about four times the Earth’s gravity. Four large parachutes will open, allowing the craft to land gently in the ocean, per BBC. The astronauts were taking part in the first crewed test flight of the Starliner spacecraft, developed by Boeing. The capsule faced technical problems during its journey to the ISS, and it was deemed too risky to take the astronauts home. Starliner returned back to Earth empty in early September 2024. During their extended stay, the astronauts have done experiments on board and conducted spacewalks, with Suni breaking the record for the woman who’s spent the most hours outside of the space station. “We came up prepared to stay long, even though we plan to stay short. That’s what we do in human space flight. That’s what your nation’s human space flight programme is all about,” Butch said. “I think just the fact that we’re living up here, in this very unique place, gives you an amazing perspective,” Suni said. “I don’t want to lose that spark of inspiration when I leave, so I’m going to have to bottle it somehow.” NASA’s live coverage of the SpaceX Crew-9 undocking now is underway on NASA+.
