After successfully undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) this morning, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally set to return to Earth after an unexpected nine-month stay in space.
Originally scheduled for just an eight-day mission, the pair ended up spending 285 days aboard the ISS due to technical setbacks. Their return was delayed first by issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, forcing it to return to Earth unmanned, and then by persistent problems with the SpaceX rocket meant to bring them home.
Under the directive of President Donald Trump, who prioritized their return upon taking office in January, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was ordered to “go get” the stranded astronauts. The mission finally moved forward on March 16, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully reached the ISS, allowing the Crew-10 astronauts to complete a handover and paving the way for Williams and Wilmore’s departure.
According to Al Jazeera, the Crew-10 Dragon spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. EST today, with NASA livestreaming the event on YouTube. The spacecraft is expected to begin its deorbit burn at 5:11 p.m. EST, before making a splashdown off the Florida coast at approximately 5:57 p.m. EST (21:57 GMT).
NASA will livestream the recovery process starting at 4:45 p.m. EST, with retrieval expected to take about an hour. Alongside Williams and Wilmore, the capsule also carries NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Although the astronauts are eager to reunite with their families, the transition back to Earth won’t be easy. They will be immediately stretchered off for medical evaluation and six weeks of physical rehabilitation to counteract the severe loss of muscle mass and bone density caused by prolonged exposure to microgravity. Additionally, Williams and Wilmore will undergo cancer-related screenings as a precaution due to their work involving ultrasounds and radiation exposure during their extended stay in orbit.
Their return marks the end of an unexpected and challenging chapter in spaceflight history, highlighting both the risks and resilience of human space exploration.
