Seasoned NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have spent an unexpected nine months aboard the International Space Station, are finally set to make their long-awaited journey back to Earth early Tuesday morning.
Following the arrival of a replacement crew on Saturday night, Wilmore, Williams, and two fellow astronauts are scheduled to detach from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. ET (0505 GMT) and embark on a 17-hour return trip home.
Their departure marks the conclusion of an unusual chapter in their spaceflight, as Wilmore and Williams were originally part of a pivotal test mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft—an endeavor that went awry and extended their stay far beyond its planned eight-day duration.
In a backup plan put in place by NASA last year, the duo will return aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The troubled Starliner test was yet another setback for Boeing’s space division, which has struggled to establish itself as a viable competitor to SpaceX’s dominant Crew Dragon in human spaceflight.
Adding a political twist to the situation, former President Donald Trump and his ally, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, have attempted—without evidence—to place blame on former President Joe Biden for the astronauts’ prolonged mission.
Once undocked, the crew is expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico at 5:57 p.m. ET Tuesday, with the precise landing site contingent on weather conditions. They will then be transported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center for post-mission medical evaluations.
Wilmore and Williams made history as the first astronauts to pilot Boeing’s Starliner in a test flight last June. However, propulsion system failures rendered the craft unsafe for their return, prompting NASA to integrate them into the Crew-9 mission instead. Starliner ultimately returned to Earth uncrewed in September.
They will be joined on the return flight by NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who arrived at the ISS last September on a Crew Dragon capsule equipped with two vacant seats. Originally slated for a Wednesday return, NASA advanced their departure to Tuesday to avoid weather-related complications.
During their extended stay, Wilmore and Williams transitioned into regular station operations, assisting with scientific research and station maintenance alongside their fellow astronauts. Now, after an eventful and prolonged mission, their long-awaited journey home is finally underway.