Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore Set to Return from Space on March 19
After nearly 10 months in orbit, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore are finally set to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on March 19. The duo, who have been aboard the ISS since June due to unforeseen technical difficulties with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, are part of the Crew-9 mission.
Their return was announced during a media interaction from space, where they explained that their departure would follow the arrival of the Crew-10 mission. Scheduled to launch on March 12, Crew-10 includes astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from NASA, Takuya Onishi from Japan’s space agency, and Kirill Peskov from Roscosmos. This mission will kick off its own six-month stint on the ISS, after which Williams and Willmore, along with Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, will conclude their stay and return home.
Originally, the return was slated for March 25, but NASA, with assistance from SpaceX, has expedited the schedule. This change was facilitated by using a previously flown Dragon spacecraft, named Endurance, for the Crew-10 mission, which allowed for an earlier launch opportunity. The return of Crew-9 was emphasized by US President Donald Trump, who urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to ensure a swift return for the astronauts, although the groundwork for this operation had been laid months prior by NASA.
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Despite being referred to as “stranded” by some, both Williams and Willmore clarified that they were well-prepared for the extended stay due to the inherent challenges of space travel. “Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges, and we were prepared for it,” they stated, refuting the notion of being stuck.
The accelerated return of Crew-9 has had a ripple effect, notably delaying the Axiom Space’s planned Crew Dragon mission. This mission, which was to include Subhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS, along with astronauts from Poland and Hungary, has been rescheduled to accommodate the ISS’s busy schedule.
