Florida: NASA astronauts Sunita Williams (Indian-origin) and Butch Wilmore, along with fellow astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Grebyonkin, have safely returned to Earth after spending an extended period aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The crew’s return marked the end of a remarkable 286-day mission that saw delays lasting over nine months.
The astronauts’ spacecraft, SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom capsule, successfully splashed down off the Florida coast near Tallahassee at 5:57 PM ET (3:27 AM IST, Wednesday).
The crew had been aboard the ISS for much longer than initially planned, as they were originally scheduled to stay for just eight days.
Their extended mission was a result of issues with the Boeing Starliner capsule’s propulsion system, which delayed their return. The Starliner capsule, which was supposed to return them, had to undergo repairs before it could complete its mission, with the faulty capsule returning to Earth in September last year.
The return journey, lasting 17 hours, concluded with a parachute-assisted splashdown in the ocean. A NASA recovery team quickly opened the capsule’s hatch, helping the astronauts out onto mobility aids. The crew, smiling and waving at cameras, was swiftly moved to reclining stretchers for routine medical checks.
Williams, completing her third spaceflight, now holds the second-highest number of cumulative days spent in space by a U.S. astronaut, with 608 days. The record is still held by Peggy Whitson, who accumulated 675 days in space. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko holds the global record, with 878 days.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk congratulated both NASA and SpaceX teams for the safe return and thanked former President Donald Trump for prioritizing the mission. Musk also revealed in a Fox News interview that SpaceX had offered to bring the astronauts back earlier under the Biden administration, but the offer was “rejected for political reasons.”
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also took to social media to congratulate the Crew-9 team, particularly Sunita Williams. He praised their “endurance and perseverance” in space, highlighting the pride and historical significance of their achievement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his appreciation on social media, writing: “Welcome back, #Crew9! The Earth missed you. Sunita Williams and her fellow astronauts have once again shown us what perseverance truly means. Their unwavering determination will inspire millions.”
This mission has proven to be not only a test of space endurance but also a testament to human resilience and the pursuit of excellence in space exploration.
