NASA decided to return astronauts Wilmore and Williams after the problems with the Boeing Starliner, their mission lasted longer than the ordinary six months.
Two American astronauts who were stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) for more than nine months on Tuesday morning via the SPACEX ship went back to Earth. This was stated by the US National Aviation and Space Authority (NASA), informs TASR through AP.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams has left NASA astronaut Hague and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbun. On Tuesday evening they should land in Florida.
Wilmore and Wiliams were stuck on board the ISS last June after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft occurred problems with propulsion. Back to the ground, the ship returned without a crew. NASA then decided to get stuck astronauts to the ground after the SpaceX Crew-9 mission is over.
Their prolonged stay was significantly longer than the standard rotation for ISS astronauts, which usually lasts six months. However, this space mission is much shorter than the American space record – 371 days spent on the ISS in 2023 by Astronaut NASA Frank Rubio, or a world record set by Russian cosmonaut Valerij Poľakovo, who spent 437 days at the Mir space station.
Both astronauts stressed that the longer time in the universe did not mind them. However, they admitted that the situation was difficult for their families.
