Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore set to return to Earth: NASA reveals landing date | Technology News
Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who have been stranded on the International Space Station, are finally gearing up for a return to Earth. The duo, who initially embarked on a 10-day mission aboard the Boeing Starliner, have been stranded for the past nine months. On Friday, Nasa cleared a relief crew to launch on SpaceX Dragon next week for their return. Nasa officials have confirmed that the duo will return to Earth on March 16.
Williams and Wilmore were launched on a crewed flight test on June 5. However, after their capsule faced successive failures, they have been living on the ISS. The astronauts who were to be aboard the Starliner spacecraft for nearly 10 days faced issues with their capsule, forcing the agency to put their return on hold indefinitely.
The Starliner spacecraft returned without a crew in September last year. However, weeks later, Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were launched on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission with two seats aboard their Dragon spacecraft reserved for the stranded astronauts. They were originally scheduled to return in February; now all four will return together on March 16.
In a press briefing, Nasa’s ISS program manager Dana Weigel explained that since Crew-9 was launching with two astronauts, it was sensible to accommodate Williams and Wilmore for the long-duration mission. On the other hand, Crew-10 is set to launch on March 12 from Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) with Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos’ Kirill Peskov. Initially assigned to a new Crew Dragon, Crew-10 will now fly aboard the Endurance capsule due to delays in the new spacecraft’s construction.
Reportedly, the swap comes after public commentary from US President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk about stranded astronauts. However, Nasa officials maintained that the decision was in motion before the public comments. Nasa’s Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stitch, explained that the delays in spacecraft production are common, and the shift to Endurance was finalised in late January.
Nasa’s Crew-9 and Crew-10 missions are part of the Commercial Crew Program using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Crew-9, launched in August 2024, carried Nasa’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov, with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams. Crew-10, launching March 12, 2025, will replace Crew-9 with a six-month stay. It will fly aboard the veteran Dragon Endurance instead of a new spacecraft due to manufacturing delays, ensuring continued ISS operations.
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