Following a nine-month unplanned residency on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally going home. The long-awaited welcome home is to arrive Tuesday night, bringing the curtain down on a mission initially scheduled to end after one week.
How to Watch the Return of the Astronauts
NASA will additionally offer live stream coverage of the event on their website and NASA+ app with the following schedule:
- Monday, 10:45 PM ET – Live hatch closure and undocking process coverage.
- Tuesday, 4:45 PM ET – Coverage continues as the crew heads towards splashdown.
- Tuesday, 5:57 PM ET – Approximate landing time.
- Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET – Live post-landing press conference.
Why Were They Stuck in Space for Nine Months?
Williams and Wilmore were aboard Boeing’s Starliner test flight, which was meant to show the spacecraft could transport crews to and from the ISS. Their return was, however, postponed indefinitely when five of Starliner’s thrusters malfunctioned during the flight.
NASA also had another crewed Starliner flight planned in September 2023 to return them, but technical issues resulted in them being postponed multiple times. By April 2024, the Starliner spacecraft finally returned to Earth—but not with the astronauts.
To return them early, NASA booked Williams and Wilmore a ride back to Earth on a trip aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
A Blot on Boeing’s Starliner Project
The malfunction of the Starliner’s thrusters has raised serious doubts about the reliability of Boeing’s spacecraft, especially since NASA relies on its commercial partners to transport astronauts safely to space. Delays could impact Boeing’s future participation in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, particularly with SpaceX repeatedly demonstrating its reliability with the Dragon capsule.
Despite these problems, NASA is dedicated to testing the performance of Starliner and working out its problems. Williams and Wilmore’s return shortly will be the end of an unforeseen chapter in contemporary spaceflight that will point out the danger and difficulty of going to space with humans.
