After spending nearly a year in space, two NASA astronauts are finally making their way back to Earth. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were originally supposed to be on a short mission, have been stuck aboard the International Space Station since June due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. They are now returning home aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom, along with two other astronauts, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The crew undocked from the ISS early Tuesday morning and is expected to splash down off the coast of Florida at approximately 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT). NASA and SpaceX moved up the landing by a day to avoid unfavorable weather conditions later in the week. Viewers can watch the reentry live, with streaming coverage beginning at 4:45 p.m. EDT (2045 GMT) on NASA’s official channels.
Wilmore and Williams have now spent 286 days in space, orbiting Earth over 4,500 times while waiting for a safe return. Their extended stay was caused by multiple problems with Starliner, including helium leaks and thruster malfunctions, which forced NASA to send the spacecraft back to Earth empty. In the meantime, the astronauts continued their work aboard the station as part of Expedition 72.
With this mission, SpaceX completes its ninth operational crew return under NASA’s commercial crew program. Future landings are expected to shift to the Pacific Ocean to avoid space debris risks in the Gulf of Mexico. For now, all eyes are on the splashdown, marking the long-awaited homecoming of two astronauts who spent far longer in space than anyone planned.
