Sunita Williams and Wilmore to return after being stranded for nine months; NASA announces date

WASHINGTON: After a nine-month spaceflight, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are set to return to Earth, NASA officials have confirmed. The two are currently on the International Space Station. The two, who left for a 10-day mission on the Boeing Starliner, have been stuck at the space station for the past nine months. Sunita and Wilmore arrived at the space station on June 5 during a crewed flight test. However, they had to remain at the space station after the return mission failed.

Sunita and Wilmore will be able to return a few days after four tourists arrive at the station as part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission, which is scheduled to be conducted on March 12 and 13. If the weather conditions are favourable, the Crew-10 spacecraft will be launched from Florida on a Falcon rocket at 11:48 pm on March 12 (Indian time, 5:18 am on the 13th). It is hoped that Sunita and Wilmore will be able to return by March 16 after providing the necessary training and instructions to the 4 tourists who will arrive on the spacecraft.

Sunita and Wilmore will return to Earth on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission spacecraft, which is docked at the station. This spacecraft arrived at the station in September. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russia's Alexandr Gorbunov will also accompany Sunita on the return journey. The two arrived at the station through the Crew-9 mission. They were initially scheduled to return in February. Now, new reports say that all four will return together on March 16.