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Sunita Williams, along with three other astronauts, splashed down on Earth on Wednesday, nine months after being stuck in International Space Station.
Sunita Williams returns to Earth (Photo: X/ NASA)
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth early Wednesday, after being stuck in the International Space Station (ISS) for over nine months.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 10.35 am IST on Tuesday, ferrying Williams and Wilmore, and covered a 17-hour journey back home and splashed down off the coast of Florida in the US at 3.27 am IST on Wednesday.
The duo bid farewell to the ISS – their home since last spring – alongside two others – NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Williams and Wilmore had flown to the orbital lab in June 2024, for what was intended to be a brief roundtrip, testing Boeing’s Starliner on its inaugural crewed mission. They were supposed to stay at the ISS for about a week. However, propulsion issues rendered the spacecraft unfit for their return journey, leading to an empty, uncrewed return to Earth.
Both of the astronauts set their foot back on Earth as they were recovered from the Dragon on the recovery vessel.
The White House welcomed the astronauts and said, “PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months.”
