NASA has announced that two US astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for over nine months, will return to Earth on Tuesday evening.
The astronauts, along with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, will be transported back aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft after a replacement crew arrived at the ISS early on Sunday. Wilmore and Williams had been on the ISS since June, following an issue with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing, which suffered propulsion problems and was deemed unfit for their return.
NASA stated on Sunday that the planned splashdown of the spacecraft off the Florida coast has been moved to approximately 5:57 pm on Tuesday (2157 GMT), a day earlier than originally scheduled. The change in timing allows the space station crew to complete necessary handover duties while providing operational flexibility due to less favorable weather conditions expected later in the week.
Along with Wilmore and Williams, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also return on the Crew Dragon. The journey will be broadcast live, starting with the hatch closure preparations on Monday evening.
For Wilmore and Williams, their return marks the end of a challenging nine-month stay on the ISS, far beyond the usual six-month rotation for astronauts. However, their stay remains shorter than the US space record of 371 days set by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio in 2023, and the world record of 437 days set by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov aboard the Mir space station.
Their extended time away from their families, without enough personal supplies, has drawn sympathy and attention, as the astronauts were provided with additional clothing and care items during their prolonged stay.
