Nasa confirms homecoming date of Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore: Details

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore's journey back to Earth is expected to take several hours, culminating in a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida

Nasa has confirmed that astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for more than nine months, will finally return to Earth on Wednesday (IST). The duo will travel back aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, along with fellow Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The capsule is scheduled for an ocean splashdown off the Florida coast at approximately 5:57 pm ET Tuesday (3:27 am IST Wednesday).

 

The two astronauts had been on the ISS since June 2024 as part of Boeing’s first crewed test flight of the Starliner spacecraft. However, the spacecraft suffered propulsion issues, rendering it unfit for the return journey. As a result, Wilmore and Williams had to remain on the ISS for far longer than the originally planned brief mission. Their extended stay required additional supplies, including clothing and personal care items, as they had not packed for a long-duration mission.

 

Nasa stated in a press release on March 16 that the decision to move the return date earlier was made to account for operational flexibility and to avoid less favourable weather conditions later in the week. “The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week,” the agency said. 

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The return process will be broadcast live by Nasa starting Tuesday evening, beginning with hatch closure preparations. The journey back to Earth is expected to take several hours, culminating in a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida.

 

Nasa's live operations coverage (ET)

 

Monday, March 17

 

10:45 p.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+

 

Tuesday, March 18

 

12:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+

 

1:05 a.m. – Undocking

 

Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will switch to audio only.

 

Pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites, continuous coverage will resume on March 18 on NASA+ prior to the start of deorbit burn.

 

4:45 p.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+

 

5:11 p.m. – Deorbit burn (time is approximate)

 

5:57 p.m. – Splashdown (3.27 am IST)

 

7:30 p.m. – Return-to-Earth media conference on NASA+

   

Relief and challenges of an unexpectedly long mission

 

For Williams and Wilmore, this return will mark the end of an unexpectedly long and challenging mission. Standard ISS crew rotations typically last around six months, making their nine-month stay significantly longer than planned. However, their mission was still far shorter than the longest continuous spaceflight by a US astronaut—371 days, set by Nasa’s Frank Rubio in 2023—or the world record of 437 days held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov.

 

Despite the delay, the astronauts continued their work aboard the ISS, assisting in various research projects and station maintenance. Their prolonged stay has drawn considerable interest and sympathy, particularly due to their lack of adequate personal items for such an extended period away from home.

 

Crew-10 joins ISS

 

Their return follows the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-10 mission, which launched on March 14 and docked with the ISS early March 16. The Crew Dragon spacecraft carried Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed the docking on social media, posting, “SpaceX Dragon docks with Space Station.”

 

Nasa also released a statement confirming the docking. “Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the orbiting complex at 12:04 am EDT, while the station was roughly 260 statute miles over the Atlantic Ocean.”

 

Crew-10 will take over responsibilities from Crew-9, which includes Wilmore, Williams, Hague, and Gorbunov. The ISS crew count will temporarily rise to 11 before the Crew-9 astronauts make their way back to Earth after completing the handover.