After month of technical difficulties which has led to being stuck in space for nearly nine months, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are about to return home
Astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore were supposed to spend just eight days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
However after technical issues were discovered with the aircraft, both astronauts became stranded. It’s been nine months since they made their journey into space and now the pair are finally set to return home aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Last night, a SpaceX rocket has blasted off to rescue NASA’s stranded astronauts from the International Space Station. NASA wrote on X: “Have a great time in space, y’all! #Crew10 lifted off from @NASAKennedy at 7:03pm ET (2303 UTC) on Friday, March 14.” While SpaceX said: “Liftoff of Crew-1.” The crew are now in orbit after an approximately nine minute ride from lift-off.
Here’s the story behind their extended mission and their upcoming homecoming.
How did they get stuck?
Williams and Wilmore launched on 5 June 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, intended to be a new alternative to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for missions to the International Space Station (ISS). The plan was simple: a routine eight-day mission to test out Starliner’s capabilities. But on arrival to the ISS, they encountered a series of serious technical issues with the spacecraft.
Starliner suffered five helium leaks, five dead manoeuvring thrusters, and a malfunctioning propellant valve. This made it unsafe for the astronauts to return as planned. Despite months of testing and efforts to fix the issues, NASA and Boeing decided it was too risky to attempt the return flight By September, they concluded that the Starliner should return to Earth without any crew aboard, leaving Williams and Wilmore still on the ISS.
Why has it taken so long for them to come back?
Williams and Wilmore’s return has been postponed many times. Initially, they were meant to return with a SpaceX crewed mission scheduled for February 2025. However, due to further delays with the spacecraft, their return was pushed back.
They haven’t been alone all this time however, in September, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov joined them at the ISS, but the delays continued. Their new ride home would be aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, along with Hague and Gorbunov, who were part of a planned mission. The capsule, which had been docked at the ISS since September 2024, will bring them back to Earth, landing off the coast of Florida by mid-March.
Elon Musk’s weird claim
The extended stay has sparked some political attention. Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have made statements suggesting the astronauts were “left” in space for political reasons, with Musk claiming that SpaceX had offered to bring them home much earlier. However, famed astronaut Andreas Mogensen challenged this claim, explaining that the astronauts were always scheduled to return with Crew-9, and no “rescue” mission was necessary. In a news conference from space, Wilmore confirmed that politics played no role in their return schedule.
What health impacts could the astronauts face?
Whilst both astronauts have stayed positive throughout their stay, there can be long term health implications for space travel. In space, astronauts are exposed to higher levels of radiation than on Earth, as they’re outside the protective magnetic field of the planet. This can lead to DNA damage, increased cancer risks, and issues with the cardiovascular and immune systems. Luckily, the ISS provides some protection, as it remains within the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Without the pull of gravity, astronauts suffer from muscle atrophy (the wasting or thinning of muscle) and loss of bone density. For every month spent in space, bones can lose up to 1% of their density. Microgravity also causes fluids to shift in the body, which can lead to facial swelling and pressure on the eyes, resulting in headaches and vision issues which can persist once on the ground.
Living in a tiny space for months with limited social interaction can take a toll on mental health which can show up as stress, sleep disturbances, and mood swings. Williams and Wilmore have regularly spoken about missing their loved ones, but they have also expressed a strong sense of purpose in their work.
What happens next?
Both astronauts have been hard at work during their extended stay, completing over 900 hours of research on more than 150 scientific experiments. Despite being away from Earth for so long, they’ve remained focused on their mission.
Now, as they prepare to return, they can look forward to seeing their families and readjusting to life on Earth and having a little more space than they’ve been used to over the past few months.
