After eight months, they touch down on Earth; Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore to return on March 19

 

 

California: Finally, a glimmer of hope from space has been set for Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) for eight months, to return to Earth. SpaceX will launch the Crew-10 mission to bring Sunita and Butch back on March 12. A week later, on March 19, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will end their long wait and land on Earth.

NASA's Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will depart for the International Space Station on June 5, 2024, for an eight-day mission aboard Boeing's Starliner. However, Sunita and Butch have been on the ISS for eight months after the return trip was postponed several times due to technical problems with the Starliner. Butch said in an interview with CNN that they will return to Earth on March 19, ending the long wait. SpaceX's Dragon capsule is responsible for returning the two safely to Earth. For this, SpaceX will launch the Dragon capsule with the Crew-10 mission team on March 12.

NASA is sending four astronauts on the Crew-10 mission for a new six-month mission. NASA's Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos' Kirill Persov will go to the International Space Station on the Crew-10 mission. They will spend a week at the station, which will be a time for a transition of responsibilities. Current space station commander Sunita Williams will hand over the ISS to the new commander for the Crew-10 mission. After this, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will undock to Earth on March 19 in the Dragon spacecraft.