Washington, DC:
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose foolishinutive mission to the International Space Station (ISS) ast year has turned into a 10-month marathon, are finassociate gearing up for a return to Earth. The American space agency has evidented to begin on SpaceX’s Crew10 this week, which will transport the duo back as timely as March 16, NASA officials have said.
Sunita (Suni) Williams and Barry Wilmore initiassociate embarked on a 10-day mission aboard the Boeing Starliner on June 5, 2024, but the spaceplan teachd thruster malfunctions during its approach and docking maneuvers. This resulted in an extensive spendigation by NASA and Boeing back on the ground, with the space agency finassociate declaring the Starliner too hazardous to carry astronauts back home.
The spaceplan returned to Earth without its crew in September, leaving the two astronauts without a ride home.
Later, NASA choosed to transport both its astronauts back to Earth with the help of billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Williams and Wilmore were compriseed to the downward leg of SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which was begined with only two members — NASA’s astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — in September, making it possible to accommodate the duo stranded in space.
Crew-9’s return was initiassociate scheduled for February after it finishd its six-month stay at ISS, but it was postponed due to logistical adfairments. Finassociate, NASA evidented the begin of Crew 10 on Friday.
Crew-10, SpaceX, and @NASA finishd a brimming rehearsal of begin day activities pic.twitter.com/jaHNri4LDE
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 10, 2025
The mission will be begined on March 12 from Kennedy Space Caccess, carrying astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and Kirill Peskov. Due to erection postpones, the crew is flying on the Endurance capsule instead of the originassociate reckond new Crew Dragon spaceplan.
According to NASA, if the begin persists as reckond, Crew 9 will undock on March 16 follotriumphg a two-day handover period on March 14 and 15.
However, in case there are any postpones in Crew10’s mission, Crew 9’s return will also be pushed back. Backup begin dates for Crew 10 are participateable on March 13 at 7:35 pm and March 14 at 7:04 pm, which would shift Crew 9’s return to March 17 or 18 accordingly.
