bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

A pair of astronauts stranded in space for more than nine months were finally headed home Tuesday from the International Space Station.
The SpaceX craft carrying Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams detached from the orbital outpost at 1.05am (1.05pm Hong Kong time), ending their prolonged mission that has captivated global attention.
The Nasa duo were joined on board by American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov for the 17-hour journey back to Earth.
If all goes smoothly, the capsule will deploy its parachutes off the coast of Florida for an ocean splashdown around 5.57am Hong Kong Wednesday, when a recovery vessel will retrieve the crew.

Wilmore and Williams flew to the orbital lab in June last year, on what was supposed to be a days-long round trip to test out Boeing’s Starliner on its first crewed flight.
But the spaceship developed propulsion problems and was deemed unfit to fly them back, instead returning empty.
Ex-US Navy pilots Wilmore and Williams, 62 and 59 respectively, were reassigned to the Nasa-SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which saw a Dragon spacecraft fly to the ISS last September with a team of two, rather than the usual four, to make room for the “stranded” pair.
Then, early Sunday, a relief team called Crew-10 docked with the station, their arrival met with broad smiles and hugs as they floated through the hatch.
Crew-10’s arrival cleared the way for Wilmore and Williams to depart, along with Hague and Gorbunov.
After big hugs with the crew remaining on the ISS, the quartet entered the capsule and closed its hatch on Tuesday.

“Colleagues and dear friends who remain on the station … we’ll be waiting for you. Crew-9 is going home,” Hague said.
Wilmore and Williams’ stay surpasses the standard six-month ISS rotation but ranks only sixth among US records for single-mission duration.
Frank Rubio holds the top spot at 371 days in 2023, while the world record remains with Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir station.
That makes it “par for the course” in terms of health risks, according to Rihana Bokhari of the Centre for Space Medicine at Baylor College.
Challenges such as muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts, and readjusting to gravity are well understood and well managed.
“Folks like Suni Williams are actually known for their interest in exercise, and so I believe she exercises beyond what is even her normal prescription,” Bokhari said.

Still, the unexpected nature of their extended stay – away from their families and initially without enough packed supplies – has drawn public interest and sympathy.
“If you found out you went to work today and were going to be stuck in your office for the next nine months, you might have a panic attack,” Joseph Keebler, a psychologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said.
“These individuals have shown unbelievable resilience.”
Their unexpected stint also became a political lightning rod, with President Donald Trump and his close adviser, Elon Musk – who leads SpaceX – repeatedly suggesting former president Joe Biden abandoned the astronauts and refused an earlier rescue plan.
“They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.
Such accusations have prompted an outcry in the space community, especially as Musk offered no specifics and Nasa’s plan for the astronauts’ return has remained unchanged since their Crew-9 reassignment.
Trump has also drawn attention for his bizarre remarks, referring to Williams, a decorated former naval captain, as “the woman with the wild hair” and speculating about the personal dynamic between the two.
“They’ve been left up there – I hope they like each other, maybe they love each other, I don’t know,” he said during a recent White House press conference.


US astronauts head back to Earth after unexpected 9-month stay on space station

Chinese nuclear scientists identify flaw in Nasa’s lunar reactor design

US astronauts stuck in space station welcome their 4 SpaceX replacements

Is US losing plasma engine race to China and Russia ahead of long journey to Mars?

Space

The SpaceX Crew Dragon after undocking from the ISS to begin a journey to return to Earth. Photo: Nasa via Reuters 

The SpaceX craft undocking from the ISS. Photo: Nasa via Reuters

Inside the SpaceX capsule. Photo: Nasa via Reuters 

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams before departing the ISS. Photo: Nasa via Reuters

SpaceX launches new crew to space station to replace Nasa’s stuck astronauts

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon capsule Endurance carrying the Crew-10 mission lifts off in Florida on Friday. Photo: Nasa TV via AFP

(From left) Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and colleague Nick Hague are seen in an image provided by Nasa. Photo: Nasa via AP

SpaceX Crew-10 mission astronauts en route to the launch complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday. Photo: AFP

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore pose ahead of the launch of Boeing’s Starliner-1 crew flight test last April. Photo: Reuters

Nasa and SpaceX delay flight that was to retrieve stranded US astronauts

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon Endurance capsule Photo: Jennifer Briggs/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is seen after the Crew-10 launch at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida, was delayed on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Suni Williams. Wilmore and Williams have been on the International Space Station since June. Photo: Nasa via AP

Intuitive Machines’ moon lander apparently touches down on its side – again

Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander enters orbit around the moon on Monday. Photo: TNS

SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion

SpaceX’s mega rocket Starship during the test flight. Photo: AP


Debris streaking through the sky in Big Sampson Kay, Bahamas. Photo via Reuters

The Super Heavy booster returning to its launch pad. Photo: Reuters

News

World

United States & Canada

Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore return on a SpaceX capsule after a bungled Boeing test flight left them stranded on the ISS


Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore return on a SpaceX capsule after a bungled Boeing test flight left them stranded on the ISS.


SpaceX

Boeing

Technology