NASA's stranded astronauts set to return as replacements arrive at space station

Cape Canaveral: After an unexpected nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally set to return to Earth. Their replacements arrived on Sunday aboard a SpaceX crew capsule, which docked successfully just over a day after launch.

The four newcomers—representing the US, Japan, and Russia—will spend time learning the station’s operations from Wilmore and Williams before the duo departs. Later this week, the two astronauts will board their SpaceX capsule, which has been docked at the ISS since last year, to close out their unexpectedly extended mission that began last June.

Wilmore and Williams had originally planned for a short one-week mission when they launched on Boeing’s first astronaut flight. However, their Boeing Starliner capsule suffered multiple technical issues, forcing NASA to send it back empty and leaving the astronauts without a return vehicle. Now, they are scheduled to depart early Tuesday aboard a SpaceX capsule, along with two other astronauts, and are expected to splash down off Florida’s coast later that evening, weather permitting.

Their return was further delayed when their replacements’ brand-new SpaceX capsule required extensive battery repairs, pushing the schedule back to mid-March. An older capsule was used instead, allowing the long-overdue crew change to finally take place.

The ISS, currently hosting 11 crew members from the US, Russia, and Japan, welcomed the new arrivals warmly. The station’s hatch was opened with handshakes, hugs, and even a moment of humor when Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner put on an alien mask. Wilmore rang the station’s bell as the newcomers floated in, officially marking the transition.

“It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive,” Williams told Mission Control.

With PTI inputs