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Sunita Williams' Earthbound journey: When, where, How she’ll return from ISS
The crew's return to Earth is part of a contingency plan devised by NASA with technical assistance from the world's richest man Elon Musk's company SpaceX
Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore, two veteran NASA astronauts, are preparing to return to the Earth after a nine-month-long overstay at the International Space Station (ISS).
The astronaut duo travelled to the ISS in June last year for a scheduled eight-day mission. A short stay turned out to be a months-long ordeal when the Boeing Starliner capsule, they arrived on was deemed unfit to return them to Earth after issues with its propulsion system.
Their return to Earth is part of a contingency plan devised by NASA with technical assistance from the world's richest man Elon Musk's company SpaceX. The company's Crew Dragon capsule arrived on the space station Saturday night to rescue stranded “Butch and Suni.”
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When will they return?
Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore, with astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are poised to undock from the ISS at 1:05 am ET (10:35 am IST) and begin a 17-hour trip back to Earth.
The crew is expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico (renamed as Gulf of America by the Trump administration) at 5:57 pm ET on Tuesday (3:27 am IST, Wednesday). The exact location of the landing will depend on local weather conditions.
After successful landing, the crew will be flown to NASA's Johnson Space Center for a few days of routine post-mission medical checks. Astronauts in space face bone and muscle deterioration, radiation exposure and vision impairment due to challenging conditions for survival, in addition to psychological challenges of loneliness.
Their return was scheduled to begin initially on Wednesday night, but NASA postponed the journey as unfavourable weather are expected to prevail later in the week.
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Where to watch?
NASA said that it will be live streaming the return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. The coverage will start from around 10:45 pm EST on Monday with hatch closure preparations.
The replacement crew for the ISS is getting a handover before Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore return to Earth.
The longest stay in space still belongs to Frank Rubio, who stayed aboard the station for 371 days in 2023. The world record was set by Russia’s Valeri Polyakov, who stayed aboard the Mir Space Station for a staggering 437 days in 1994-95.
(With agency inputs)
