Space Bound and Back: A Long Awaited Homecoming for US Astronauts
Back on Solid Ground: U.S. Astronauts, Aboard International Space Station, Safely Descend to Earth. - Homecoming: Spacewalking Astronauts Safely Land on Earth after ISS Stint
Hadda curves ball, man! Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, former Navy aviators and seasoned astronauts, touched down on terra firma, following a lengthy sojourn in the International Space Station (ISS). The pair initially embarked on their cosmic voyage aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June 2024, with plans to return within eight earthly days. But, a series of technical hiccups foiled their initial rollercoaster ride, leaving them in orbit without a clear path home until Sunday.
A relief squad of four no-nonsense astronauts - including Hague and their Russian counterpart, Alexander Gorbunov - rolled up to the ISS. After a proper handoff, the expanded crew boarded a Dragon capsule from SpaceX on Tuesday at the crack of dawn. The voyage across the cosmos lasted 17 bone-rattling hours until the Dragon soared back into our atmosphere, where its chutes deployed in the waters off Tallahassee.
As the capsule descended gently into the ocean, you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from NASA personnel. Old man Hague provided play-by-play commentary over the radio, remarking, "What a wild ride!" His comrades sported ear-to-ear grins as they geared up for the next part of the journey.
Before NASA's speedboats could reach the aroma of land, a group of curious bottlenose dolphins popped by for a closer look at the bobbing Dragon capsule. Eventually, a ship swooped in and yanked the capsule aboard, then hoisted the astronauts up one by one, with broad grins, waving hands, and thumbs-up galore.
After cruising down to Houston, Texas, the gang united with their loved ones and began a 45-day healing process. The White House tweeted their rejoice, saying, "A promise made, a promise kept." Trump and SpaceX honcho, Elon Musk, had previously painted the astronauts' homecoming as a daring rescue mission and accused the previous administration of neglecting the two cosmonauts for political reasons.
These allegations stirred quite a ruckus in aerospace circles, especially since Musk failed to provide evidence for his accusations. In August, NASA made a decision to send a Dragon capsule with a spare pair of seats to the ISS in September and bring Williams and Wilmore back in February 2025, along with their Crew-9 comrades, instead of launching a hastier rescue mission.
Soon after, the return flight got pushed to March due to a delay in SpaceX's Crew-10 mission launch. At a press conference after the landing, NASA manager Steve Stich confirmed that there had never been any discussion of an earlier rescue mission. Instead, the rescheduling was due to internal timing tweaks at SpaceX.
Despite spending over twice their planned time in the heavens, Williams and Wilmore are still far from reaching the record set by their fellow countryman, Frank Rubio, who logged 371 days in space instead of the six-month-long stint he had initially planned due to a hiccup in the cooling system of the Russian spacecraft meant to ferry him back to Earth.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, International Space Station (ISS), SpaceX, NASA, Elon Musk, Dragon Capsule, Boeing, Florida, White House, Poltics, Hague, Alexander Gorbunov.
- Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, once astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), were eventually rescued by a Dragon capsule from SpaceX, thanks to a decision made by NASA in August.
- During their homecoming, astronaut Nick Hague, alongside Alexander Gorbunov, handover from the ISS to the Dragon capsule took place on a Tuesday at dawn.
- The Dragon capsule, having traveled for 17 hours across the cosmos, made a successful handover with Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had initially embarked on their journey aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, in the waters off Tallahassee.
