The much-awaited return flight of NASA astronauts who were part of the Boeing Starliner's test flight has finally happened after their unexpected and prolonged stay at the International Space Station. Astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Butch Wilmore hitched a ride with SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which recently carried Crew 10 astronauts to the ISS.
Along with Williams and Wilmore's return, they were accompanied by two passengers who were part of the NASA and SpaceX Crew 9 mission, astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
NASA's Boeing Starliner Astronauts Have Returned to Earth
The saying "better late than never" specifically applies to what NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have experienced during their stay on the ISS. The good thing is that they have finally returned to their home planet after very long delays.
The Starliner duo has joined the recent return trip of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which delivered the Crew-10 astronauts last week, with the mission ending as it splashed down the Gulf of America off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.
Williams and Wilmore, alongside Hague and Gorbunov of the Crew 9 mission went on a 17-hour long trip from the ISS back to Earth, officially returning at 5:57 p.m. EDT.
NASA's Acting Administrator Janet Petro said that this mission, despite being delayed, was still a month earlier than the planned date, saying that President Donald J. Trump and SpaceX's Elon Musk helped significantly to make it happen.
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Stranded for Almost 10 Months Because of Starliner
Since June 2024, Williams and Wilmore were stranded on the ISS before they were able to return home aboard the SpaceX Dragon. T
The pair spent a total of286 days and traveled 121,346,491 miles in space, completing a whopping 4,576 orbits around the planet because of their prolonged stay.
Boeing Starliner's Problems and Delays
What should have been a milestone for America's space race turned out to be one of the most complicated and risky missions under NASA's Commercial Crew program as Boeing's Starliner faced massive setbacks in its first crewed mission in June 2024.
While the Starliner was able to dock and bring the astronauts to the ISS, it faced multiple issues, including helium leaks, while on transit.
What was supposed to be a four-day delay turned out to be months, and after working on it with NASA for months on end, they have ultimately decided to leave behind its astronauts in the space station. In early September last year, the Starliner spacecraft returned without its crew because of the dangers and risks it posed, leaving Williams and Wilmore stranded on the ISS for an unknown period.
However, the problems did not end there as SpaceX's Crew 9 did not accommodate the Starliner astronauts on its return, rather, setting them up for the next mission, which also faced delays.
