Astronauts Finally To Return After Unexpected 9-month ISS Stay

Muhammad Irfan Published March 18, 2025 | 08:10 AM

Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Mar, 2025) After more than nine months aboard the International Space Station, a pair of astronauts are finally set to depart for Earth early Tuesday, ending a prolonged mission that has captivated global attention.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams flew to the orbital lab in June last year, on what was supposed to be a days-long roundtrip to test out Boeing's Starliner on its first crewed flight.

But the spaceship developed propulsion problems and was deemed unfit to fly them back, instead returning empty without more major problems.

Ex-Navy pilots Wilmore and Williams, 62 and 59 respectively, were instead re-assigned to the NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which saw a Dragon spacecraft fly to the ISS last September with a team of two, rather than the usual four, to make room for the "stranded" pair.

Then, early Sunday, a relief team called Crew-10 docked with the station, their arrival met with broad smiles and hugs as they floated through the hatch.

Crew-10's arrival clears the way for Wilmore and Williams to depart, along with American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Hatch closure is set for 10:45 pm (0245 GMT), followed by final checks and undocking at 1:05 am.

If all goes smoothly, the Dragon craft will deploy its parachutes off the coast of Florida for an ocean splashdown, where a recovery vessel will retrieve the crew.