NASA astronauts stuck in space to return to Earth: All you need to know

NASA astronauts stuck in space to return to Earth: NASA has confirmed that two American astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months will return to Earth on Tuesday evening. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will return with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut by SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which arrived at the ISS on Sunday morning.

NASA said on Sunday evening that the time of the return of these astronauts will be 5:57 pm (3:30 am on March 19 as per Indian time) in the sea off the Florida coast on Tuesday. Earlier this return was not going to happen before Wednesday.

Wilmore and Williams have been on the ISS since June 2023. They went on the first manned test flight of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, but a technical fault occurred in it, making it unsuitable for safe return.

Sunita Williams will return to Earth

NASA said that the timing of this return has been fixed in such a way that the ISS crew gets time to complete their work and at the same time there is flexibility in view of the possibility of bad weather at the end of the week.

NASA has said that it will broadcast the return of SpaceX Crew-9 to Earth from the International Space Station live. This broadcast will start at 10:45 pm on March 17 (US time). In India, this time will be around 8:30 am on March 18.

Return of SpaceX Crew-9 to Earth

While astronaut Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov and Nick Hague and will also return in the Dragon capsule. This journey will bring relief to Wilmore and Williams, who went for a few days' journey, but were stranded for nine months.

Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams' stay at the space station was longer than the usual six-month stay, but it was less than the record of 371 days set by American astronaut Frank Rubio in 2023, and the world record of 437 days set by Russian cosmonaut Valery Polyakov at the Mir station.

Summary

The mission attracted a lot of attention due to being away from family for such a long period. Due to the long stay, both these astronauts had to send extra clothes and personal care items, as they did not carry enough luggage for such a long journey.

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