More than nine months after they were supposed to return, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally set for their long-delayed journey back to Earth. Their unexpected extended mission began last June when they launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which was meant to be a short one-week test flight. However, technical failures forced NASA to leave the capsule behind and delay their return indefinitely.
Their long wait is coming to an end as a SpaceX crew capsule successfully arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, carrying four replacement crew members from the United States, Japan, and Russia. After a brief transition period, Williams and Wilmore will board the same SpaceX capsule that has been docked at the ISS since last year and begin their long-awaited journey home later this week.
Wilmore and Williams were originally expected to return in September, but repeated delays—including the need for extensive battery repairs on their replacements’ brand-new capsule—kept pushing their return date further. Now, weather permitting, they will finally undock from the ISS no earlier than Wednesday and splash down off Florida’s coast.
For now, the ISS is unusually crowded, hosting 11 astronauts from the US, Russia, and Japan. As Williams described the arrival of the relief crew, she expressed relief and excitement, saying, “It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive.” Soon, she and Wilmore will get their long-overdue homecoming after an unexpected space odyssey.
