NASA’s Stuck Astronauts Finally Set for Homecoming

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NASA’s Stuck Astronauts Finally Set for Homecoming \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ After nine months in space, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally set to return to Earth. Their replacements launched aboard a SpaceX mission Friday night, marking the final step before their long-awaited departure from the International Space Station. The relief crew arrives Saturday, and if all goes as planned, Wilmore and Williams will undock next week and splash down off Florida’s coast. Their extended stay was due to technical failures in Boeing’s Starliner capsule, delaying their return by months.

SpaceX Launch Clears Path for Stranded Starliner Astronauts – Quick Looks

SpaceX launched NASA’s replacement crew Friday night, allowing Wilmore and Williams to finally return.
The new team will arrive Saturday night and overlap for a smooth crew transition.
Wilmore and Williams have been stuck on the International Space Station for nine months—far longer than planned.
NASA ordered Starliner to return empty due to safety concerns after helium leaks and thruster failures.
Their rescue mission was further delayed by battery issues with a brand-new SpaceX capsule, prompting a switch to a used spacecraft.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov make up the new crew.
Wilmore and Williams will return with the SpaceX astronauts who flew up in September.
President Trump and Elon Musk accused the previous administration of delaying their return.
Suni Williams set a new record for female astronauts with nine career spacewalks.
Wilmore and Williams say the toughest part of the delay has been time away from their families.

Deep Look

After spending an unexpected nine months in orbit, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally preparing for their long-overdue return to Earth. Their relief crew successfully launched Friday night aboard a SpaceX rocket, setting the stage for their departure next week after months of delays caused by technical failures in Boeing’s Starliner capsule.

What was supposed to be a one-week mission for Wilmore and Williams turned into a nine-month ordeal, filled with investigations, delays, and political controversy. Now, with their replacements en route, the longest unintended space station stay in recent history is nearing its conclusion.

The SpaceX Crew’s Mission: Bringing Starliner Astronauts Home

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center late Friday, carrying four astronauts who will replace Wilmore and Williams for a standard six-month rotation on the space station.

The newly launched crew includes:

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers (both experienced military pilots).
Takuya Onishi of Japan (former airline pilot).
Kirill Peskov of Russia (former airline pilot).

Their spacecraft is set to dock at the ISS late Saturday night, where they will overlap with Wilmore and Williams for a crew transition. This period ensures the newcomers are briefed on station operations before the Starliner astronauts undock and begin their return trip to Earth.

“Spaceflight is tough, but humans are tougher,” McClain said moments into the flight.

A Mission That Was Supposed to Last Days Stretched for Nine Months

Wilmore and Williams, both retired Navy captains, launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule on June 5. Their mission was initially meant to last about a week, testing the Starliner’s capabilities before returning to Earth.

However, soon after arriving at the International Space Station, the astronauts discovered helium leaks and thruster failures, forcing NASA and Boeing to delay their return indefinitely.

NASA ultimately ruled it unsafe to bring them back in Starliner, instead ordering the spacecraft to return to Earth empty last September.

At that point, Wilmore and Williams were transferred to a SpaceX flight scheduled for February. But when SpaceX encountered battery issues with its brand-new Dragon capsule, the return was pushed back further. To speed things up, NASA switched to a used capsule, moving their homecoming to mid-March.

Politics and Public Attention Surrounding the Delayed Return

The prolonged mission caught public and political attention, with President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk criticizing NASA’s handling of the situation.

Earlier this year, Trump and Musk vowed to accelerate Wilmore and Williams’ return, blaming the previous administration for delaying their rescue.

Despite the political debate, Wilmore and Williams have remained professional, emphasizing that they trust NASA’s decision-making process.

Life on the Space Station: Keeping Busy in Extended Orbit

During their unexpected extension, Wilmore and Williams played a crucial role in maintaining the space station, performing maintenance, experiments, and even an unplanned spacewalk.

Some of their key contributions included:

Fixing a broken toilet aboard the ISS.
Watering and monitoring plant experiments for future space agriculture.
Conducting scientific research in microgravity.
Performing a spacewalk together, during which Suni Williams set a record for the most time spent spacewalking by a female astronaut (nine spacewalks total).

“We appreciate all the love and support from everybody,” Williams said in an interview earlier this week.

But despite their dedication to their work, the hardest part of their extended mission has been being away from their families.

Wilmore, a church elder, is eager to return to face-to-face ministering, while Williams looks forward to walking her two Labrador retrievers.

Final Hurdles Before Their Return

Before their departure, Wilmore and Williams will spend a few days transitioning responsibilities to the new SpaceX crew.

If everything goes according to plan:

They will undock next week with the SpaceX astronauts who arrived in September.
Two empty seats were reserved for them on the returning spacecraft.
Weather permitting, they will splash down off the Florida coast shortly after re-entry.

“This mission has brought a little attention. There are good and bad sides to that,” Williams said. “But I think the good part is more and more people are interested in what we’re doing in space.”

Their return will mark the end of one of NASA’s most unusual astronaut assignments—a mission that was supposed to last days but instead stretched across three seasons and two calendar years.