Two astronauts who were stranded for an extended period due to unexpected issues during a week-long journey to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Boeing Company's space capsule 'Starliner' are returning to Earth.
The space journey of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunil Williams, who were stranded for over nine months after their first crewed test flight of the Starliner to the ISS in June 2024, will conclude on the 19th.
On the 14th at 7:03 p.m. (Eastern Time), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and space company SpaceX launched the Dragon space capsule carrying the 'Crew-10' team to perform an ISS replacement mission on a Falcon 9 rocket. NASA and SpaceX streamed the process live online.
This was two days after the Crew-10's first launch attempt on the 12th was canceled due to a hydraulic system issue in the ground launch device, just about 30 minutes before the countdown. On this day, preparations for the launch went smoothly, and the rocket was successfully launched at the scheduled time. If the Dragon capsule's spaceflight proceeds as planned, it is expected to dock with the ISS at around 11:30 p.m. on the 15th Eastern Time.
Subsequently, Wilmore and Williams, who were part of the previous 'Crew-9' team staying at the ISS, will spend about three more days with the newly joined Crew-10 astronauts and go through the transfer process before planning to depart towards Earth aboard the Dragon capsule on the 19th, along with two other Crew-9 team members.
Earlier, veteran astronauts Wilmore and Williams, affiliated with NASA, left Earth aboard the Boeing-developed space capsule Starliner to arrive at the ISS on June 5, 2024, for its first crewed test flight. They had planned to return to Earth aboard Starliner about eight days later. However, after Starliner docked with the ISS, several faults, including helium leaks and thruster failures, were identified, delaying the Earth return schedule.
In August 2024, NASA decided to use SpaceX's Dragon capsule instead of Starliner for the astronauts' return due to safety concerns and sent Starliner back in an unmanned state. NASA also adjusted the schedule in connection with its separate planned ISS astronaut rotation and replacement mission Crew-9, assigning Wilmore and Williams to the Crew-9 team.
On September 28, 2024, a Dragon capsule carrying two Crew-9 team members launched, leaving two seats vacant for Wilmore and Williams. Subsequently, Wilmore and Williams performed NASA missions alongside Crew-9 team members, including facility maintenance and various space experiments.
The Crew-9 team can only touch the baton and return to Earth after the Crew-10 team assigned to the next mission arrives at the ISS. This is due to NASA's principle that a certain number of personnel must remain at the ISS. The Crew-9 team's return schedule, originally set for late February this year, was postponed to the end of March due to the issue of using a new Dragon capsule for the Crew-10 transport.