A NASA astronaut tests equipment during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. (Photo courtesy of NASA)
Stranded Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally have a return date to Earth, and it's weeks earlier than previously expected.
NASA announced Tuesday (Feb. 11) that the two astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) last June aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will return home on a SpaceX Dragon capsule that will launch from Earth with the ISS Crew-10 crew on Wednesday, March 12. After a few days of handover, Williams and Wilmore will depart the ISS with the rest of Crew-9, having spent about 250 consecutive days in space.
Williams and Wilmore were originally scheduled to spend about a week in space, but technical issues with the propulsion and helium systems of their Boeing Starliner forced NASA to return the capsule to Earth empty after three months of troubleshooting that failed to resolve the issues. The capsule landed safely in New Mexico on Sept. 7, 2024. However, a recent regulatory report published by the Aerospace Safety Advisory Group noted that more engine problems developed during the descent. In October, The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing was in the early stages of considering selling its space segment, including Starliner.
As for the couple in trouble, they made the most of their time in orbit: Williams recently set a record for the most consecutive hours of spacewalks by a female astronaut.
The long-awaited return home
In December 2024, NASA said Williams and Wilmore would return on SpaceX's new Dragon capsule no earlier than late March 2025. Now, however, the astronauts and the rest of Crew-9 will return on the previously used Dragon capsule, Endurance. That will allow the transition between Crew-9 and Crew-10 to happen sooner while SpaceX continues to refine the interior and final integration of the new Dragon capsule, according to NASA.
Along with Wilmore and Williams, astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov will leave the ISS in March. They will be replaced by NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nicole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. The exact return date will be determined depending on meteorological conditions in the Florida area where Endurance lands.
TOPICS international space station astronaut
Stephanie PappasNavigate Social LinksLive Science Contributor
Stephanie Pappas is a freelance writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geological science to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. Previously a senior writer for Live Science, she now works as a freelance writer in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, a monthly publication of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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