After nine months arrested at the International Space Station (ISS) due to failures in the boeing Starliner capsule, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally returned to Earth.
The pair left aboard a Spacex capsule, along with Nick Hague (NASA) and Alexander Gorbunov (Russia), who traveled to ISS with two empty places precisely to bring them back. The capsule disagreed on Tuesday morning and was destined for Florida coast.
Wilmore and Williams should have returned just a week after they arrived at ISS in June 2024. However, serious problems with Starliner forced NASA to send it back without crew and wait for an alternative solution. The return, initially scheduled for February, was postponed another month due to complications with Spacex.
The moment of the match was marked by emotion, with Anne McClain of NASA, saying goodbye to colleagues directly from the space station: “We will miss you, but make a good trip to home.”
The situation of astronauts has attracted worldwide attention, becoming a true example of resilience and giving a new meaning to the expression “trapped at work.”
Splashdown, ! 🌊
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission carrying Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov splashed down off the coast of Florida near Tallahassee at 5:57 pm EDT. Welcome home, crew!
— NASA’s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson)
