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Sunita Williams return live streaming: When and where to watch SpaceX capsule's splashdown
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule named 'Freedom' will splashdown off the coast of Florida, near Tallahassee, around 3:27 am IST.
NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are on their way back to Earth after successfully undocking from the International Space Station earlier on Tuesday, on a SpaceX 'Dragon' capsule.
The two astronauts had been stuck at the space station for more than nine months after their Boeing Starliner, aboard which they had gone to space in June last year, was deemed unfit for their return amid helium leak and propulsion issues.
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Williams and Wilmore are also accompanied by fellow American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
When and where to watch Sunita Williams' splashdown
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore's return spacecraft, SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule named "Freedom", will splashdown off the coast of Florida, near Tallahassee, around 5:57 pm (local time) (21:57 GMT) (3:27 am IST on Wednesday).
The capsule's return had been originally scheduled for Wednesday. However, owing to 'less favourable weather conditions expected later in the week', NASA decided to prepone it by a day.
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The American space agency had announced that the return of its astronauts will be live-streamed. The coverage of which started around 10:45 pm EST on Monday.
People can watch the live stream of the SpaceX capsule's re-entry into Earth and the subsequent splashdown on NASA's YouTube channel here.
The event will also be broadcast on the space agency's X account (x.com/NASA).
Following the splashdown, a recovery vessel will retrieve the astronauts and they will be flown to Houston, where they will undergo a complete 45-day rehabilitation program.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore having spent months, instead of days, at the space station were being referred to as 'stranded' astronauts many a times, a characterisation that NASA has dismissed. The space agency had clarified that the two could have been evacuated in an emergency situation if necessary.
ALSO READ | Sunita Williams' homecoming: Why NASA astronauts' return was delayed for months
The two NASA astronauts' 286-days-long stay, which exceeds the standard six-month ISS rotation, is only on the sixth top among the US records for single-mission duration.
The top spot, at 371 days in 2023, is held by Frank Rubio. However, the world record is of Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir station.
