(CTN News) – NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the International Space Station early Tuesday morning aboard a SpaceX capsule for their anticipated return to Earth, nine months subsequent to the malfunction of their Boeing Starliner spacecraft during a scheduled week-long test mission.

At 1:05 AM ET (0505 GMT), experienced NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams, along by two additional crew members, embarked on a 17-hour voyage to Earth aboard their Crew Dragon spacecraft, departing from the orbiting laboratory.

The four-member crew, designated as part of NASA’s Crew-9 astronaut rotation mission, will land off the coast of Florida on Tuesday at 5:57 p.m. ET.

Commander Nick Hague announced from within the capsule, “Crew-9 is returning home,” as it smoothly departed from the station.

A NASA official described it as “the descent.”

Hague asserts that designating the station as “home” is a privilege within a worldwide initiative focused on the “progress of humanity.”

NASA forecast that the conditions for the splashdown would be “pristine.” Prior to being confined in the capsule for two hours of final pressure, communications, and seal testing, the astronauts, attired in re-entry suits, boots, and helmets, were observed on NASA’s live camera earlier, smiling, embracing, and posing for photographs with their colleagues from the station.

A distinctive instance of NASA’s contingency planning, coupled with the deficiencies of Boeing’s Starliner spaceship, has transformed into a global and political spectacle, while Wilmore and Williams’ return signifies the conclusion of an extraordinary, protracted mission characterised by uncertainty and technical obstacles.

In June, the astronauts launched as the inaugural crew of Starliner for an eight-day test trip. NASA resolved last year to repatriate them this year utilising a SpaceX vessel as part of the agency’s crew rotation strategy, subsequent to complications with the Starliner’s propulsion system that resulted in multiple delays.

President Donald Trump has confirmed the operation. Since becoming office in January, he has demanded the prompt return of Wilmore and Williams to the ISS and has made unfounded assertions that former President Joe Biden “abandoned” them there for political motives.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and a close advisor to Trump, supported his request for an expedited return. Prior to the trip with Wilmore and Williams, which aroused concerns regarding the Starliner’s developmental viability, Boeing anticipated that it would rival SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, the sole orbital-class crew spacecraft in the United States.

In accordance with standard protocol for astronaut repatriation, the astronauts will be transported to their crew quarters at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston for several days of medical evaluations before NASA flight surgeons authorise their reunion with their families.

Extended space flight may induce many consequences on the human body, such as visual impairment and muscular atrophy.

Wilmore and Williams will have spent 286 days in space upon their splashdown, surpassing the standard six-month duration of an ISS mission, although just missing the record established by Frank Rubio of the United States.

His unanticipated 371-day space journey concluded in 2023 because of a coolant leak in a Russian spaceship. At the conclusion of her third mission, Williams will have accumulated 608 days in space, second only to Peggy Whitson, who has spent 675 days as a US astronaut.

In the preceding year, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko established a new world record of 878 cumulative days spent in space.

Replacement of personnel.

To maintain adequate U.S. personnel levels, Wilmore and Williams were included in NASA’s standard astronaut rotation plan and could not return to Earth until their replacement crew arrived, as stated by the agency.

Their replacements came on Friday evening. Four astronauts from NASA’s Crew-10 mission temporarily increased the station’s population to eleven.

Wilmore informed reporters from orbit earlier this month, “We arrived prepared for a prolonged stay, contrary to our initial plan for a short visit,” and he enquired about the influence of politics on NASA’s decision to retain them on the ISS until Crew-10’s arrival.

“The principal aim of your country’s human spaceflight program,” he stated, “is to prepare for unforeseen and unexpected situations.” That is precisely what we achieved.

Wilmore and Williams, together with the other five astronauts on the station, have been conducting routine maintenance and scientific research. Williams and Wilmore conducted two six-hour extravehicular activities outside the ISS for maintenance purposes.

The International Space Station (ISS), a pivotal platform for scientific diplomacy primarily managed by the United States and Russia, is a research facility comparable in size to a football pitch that has been continuously occupied by international astronaut crews for nearly 25 years. It is situated at an altitude of approximately 254 miles (409 kilometres).

Earlier this month, Williams informed reporters that she anticipated reuniting with her family and two dogs upon her return home. “Their experience has been tumultuous, probably more than ours,” she informed me.

SOURCE: DN