Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP) — Two packed NASA astronauts returned to Earth on SpaceX Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with the Bangle Boeing Test Flight more than nine months ago.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to their home, the International Space Station, since last spring, and set out for SpaceX capsules along with two other astronauts. The capsules weren’t spinning around, so by the evening evening I was aiming for a splashdown from Florida coast.
The pair was expected to be just a week or so after it was launched on June 5th at Boeing’s new Starliner Crew Capsule. So many issues arise on the way to the space station, and eventually moved the test pilot to SpaceX and returned home in February. The SpaceX Capsule issue then added another month’s delay.
The arrival of the relief crew on Sunday meant that Willmore and Williams could eventually leave. NASA slowed down a bit earlier given the inappropriate weather forecast later this week. They checked out with Nick Haag from NASA and Alexander Golvnov from Russia. He arrived at his SpaceX capsule in two empty seats booked to the Starliner duo last fall.
The image, taken from NASA video, shows SpaceX capsules carrying NASA astronauts Sniwilliams, Butchwillmore, Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Golbunov.
“We’ll miss you, but we have a great journey home,” NASA’s Anne McLain called out from the space station as the capsule pulled 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean.
Their light-forming features attracted global attention and gave a new meaning to the phrase “stuck at work.” Other astronauts recorded longer spaceflights over decades, but no one dealt with so many uncertainties or significantly increased the length of their mission.
Wilmore and Williams quickly moved from guests to full-fledged station crew members, conducting experiments, fixing equipment and even carrying out spaceships together. With 62 hours on nine spaceships, Williams set a record. It took the longest time to spend in space throughout her career among female astronauts.
Both lived in orbital labs before, knew the ropes and hone their train station training before rocking the rocket. Williams became the broadcaster commander three months after his stay and held the post until earlier this month.
Their mission came with an unexpected twist in late January when President Donald Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to speed up the return of astronauts and blame the Biden administration for delays. The replacement crew’s brand new SpaceX capsules weren’t ready to fly yet, so SpaceX has been rushing in at least a few weeks with the used Capsule.
Even in the middle of the political storm, Wilmore and Williams continued to maintain an equal keel with public appearances from orbit, not taking responsibility, claiming that they supported NASA’s decision from the start.
NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing after the shuttle program was over. This is because they will deploy two competing US companies to transport astronauts with astronauts until they are abandoned and fiery re-entered in 2030. By then, it would have been there for over 30 years. The plan is to replace it with a privately run station so that NASA can concentrate on its Moon and Mars expedition.
Both retired Navy captains, Willmore and Williams, emphasized that they don’t mind spending more time in space. But they admitted that it was difficult for their family.
Wilmore, 62, missed most of her daughter’s junior high school students. His eldest daughter is in college. 59-year-old Williams had to settle for an internet call from space to his mother. They have to wait to leave SpaceX Recovery Ship and fly to Houston before their long-awaited reunion with their loved ones.
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The Associated Press School of Health Sciences is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institution’s Science and Education Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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