On March 18, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams left the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX capsule, ending a nine-month stay in orbit that was delayed by technical problems with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft. About this informs Reuters.
Wilmore and Williams — experienced NASA astronauts and former US Navy test pilots — and two other crew members undocked from the orbiting station at 1:05 a.m. EST aboard the Crew Dragon. The journey home will take 17 hours.
The capsule, with four astronauts aboard, is expected to touch down off the coast of Florida at 5:57 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The return of Wilmore and Williams concludes an unusual and protracted mission marked by uncertainty and technical difficulties that turned a rare test flight for NASA into an emergency. The problems with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft have also become a high-profile political topic.
The pair first launched into space in June as the first Starliner crew for an eight-day test mission. However, due to malfunctions in the Boeing Starliner’s engine system, the return was delayed for months. A long stay in space can have a negative effect on the human body – in particular, it can cause muscle atrophy and vision problems.
The time of continuous stay in space for Wilmore and Williams was 286 days. This is longer than the average duration of a standard six-month mission to the ISS, but less than the record held by American astronaut Frank Rubio. Its mission lasted 371 days and ended in 2023 after an emergency situation involving a coolant leak on a Russian ship.
