Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who were stuck in the International Space Station (ISS) for the last nine months, are all set to return to Earth on March 16, said NASA. NASA has cleared SpaceX Dragon for their return. Williams and Wilmore have gone on a 10-day mission from Boeing Starliner on June 5, 2024, after it faced some technical issues.
According to reports, Starline spacecraft returned to Earth without a crew in September 2024. Weeks later, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov went on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to rescue stranded astronauts. The original date for return was scheduled in February, but later it was delayed, and they are all set to return on March 16.
“Nasa’s ISS programme 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,” said NASA in a press statement.
According to reports, the transfer follows public comments by US President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk concerning stranded astronauts. However, NASA officials insisted that the decision was made before the public comment period. Steve Stitch, NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme manager, noted that spacecraft manufacture delays are usual, and the transition to Endurance was completed in late January.
NASA’s Crew-9 and Crew-10 missions are part of the Commercial Crew Programme, which uses SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Crew-9, which launched in August 2024, carried NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov, with two vacant seats held for Wilmore and Williams. Crew-10, scheduled to launch on March 12, 2025, will replace Crew-9 for a six-month stay. Due to manufacturing delays, it will go onboard the veteran Dragon Endurance rather than a new spacecraft, ensuring that the ISS continues to operate.
