Sunita Williams set to return to Earth tomorrow

With US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded for more than nine months on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has confirmed that they will return to Earth on the evening of Tuesday, 19 March.

Wilmore and Williams are to be transported home with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, which arrived at the ISS early on Sunday. NASA said in a statement on Sunday evening that it had moved forward the astronauts' anticipated ocean splashdown off the Florida coast to nearly 5.57 pm on Tuesday (3.30 am IST).

The return was initially slated for no sooner than Wednesday. The duo have been on the ISS since June 2024 after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage suffered propulsion issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth.

"The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favourable weather conditions expected for later in the week," the space agency said.

NASA also said in a statement that it will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the ISS, beginning with the Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10.45 pm EDT Monday, 17 March (around 8.30 am IST on 18 March). NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also return on the Dragon capsule.

The slated journey will mark the end of an ordeal for Wilmore and Williams that has seen them stuck for nine months after what was meant to have been a days-long round trip. However, while their extended stay aboard the ISS was much longer than the typical six-month rotation for astronauts, it falls short of the US space record of 371 days set by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio in 2023, or the world record of 437 days held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov aboard the Mir space station.

The unexpected length of their time away from their families had drawn massive attention, speculation and concern. Owing to the unforeseen extension, both the astronauts had to receive extra clothing and personal care supplies, as they hadn’t packed enough for such an extended mission.