NASA: "Lost" Astronauts Back on Earth on Tuesday (Nine Months Later!)
NASA accelerates planned evacuation of stranded astronauts to Tuesday - NASA delays scheduled return of marooned cosmonauts to Tuesday
Here's the lowdown on the cosmic comeback!
NASA has announced a shift in plans for the return of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were left in a bit of a pickle on the International Space Station (ISS) due to technical hiccups with their Boeing spacecraft. Originally, they were only intended to spend a week in space, but factor in some rough luck, and you end up with these two stellar explorers stranded on the ISS for a significant chunk of time — around nine months, to be exact.
But don't fret, because good news is on the horizon! On Sunday, the long-awaited rescue vehicle, a Dragon capsule, safely docked with the ISS, finally bringing Wilmore and Williams back to Terra Firma. Joining them are astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who are also due for a change of scenery. The quartet are expected to touch down on Earth on Tuesday, weather conditions permitting.
While they were up in the cosmos, the new ISS crew — US astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi — blasted off into space on Friday. Their mothership? A rocket from the one and only SpaceX from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- ISS
- NASA
- SpaceX
- International Space Station
- Boeing
(Fun fact: During their extended stay, Williams and Wilmore observed no fewer than eight different visiting vehicles arriving and departing from the ISS. Williams even set a record for the most time spent on spacewalks by a woman.)
[1] Upon their return, they were reported to be in good condition and will undergo routine medical checks before reuniting with their families.
- Despite the initial plan, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were left stranded on the International Space Station due to technical issues with their Boeing spacecraft, will not be able to make it back to Earth as planned, following the extraordinary nine-month stay.
- NASA has confirmed that the "stranded" astronauts, along with Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, will finally handover their roles to the latest ISS crew on Tuesday, once they safely desert the Dragon capsule and land on Earth, provided weather conditions are favorable.
- Although SpaceX's Dragon capsule successfully docked with the ISS, rescuing the astronauts who previously could not return to Earth, it was a Boeing spacecraft that was supposed to accompany Williams and Wilmore during their originally scheduled one-week mission in space.
