Score another success for SpaceX!
I happy to report that NASA astronauts who made up the Starliner crew, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, safely returned to Earth on Tuesday afternoon, after spending nearly months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
They landed in the Gulf of America.
Butch Wilmore, 62, and 59-year-old Suni Williams splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Fla., just before 6 p.m. EST Tuesday, concluding a 17-hour return journey from the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom capsule.Their triumphant homecoming came a baffling 278 days behind schedule — when they first arrived at the ISS in June 2024, they were scheduled to stay for just about 10 days.But a malfunction from their Boeing-made return capsule stranded them in space, while numerous delays and political bickering left Wilmore and Williams in orbit for 286 days.With much relief from the watching world, their escape craft finally parachuted into the balmy Gulf of America waters without a hitch after soaring through the clear daylight skies over Central America en route to the Florida coast.
The returning astronauts, which included NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, were greeted by dolphins as well has SpaceX followers across the world eager to see the Starliner crew return to Earth.
This landing marked the completion of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, with Hague and Gorbunov spending 171 days in space, while Williams and Wilmore had been there for 286 days.
Teams on the SpaceX recovery ship, including two fast boats, are securing Dragon and ensuring the spacecraft is safe for recovery. As the fast boat teams complete their work, the recovery ship will move into position to hoist Dragon onto the main deck with the Crew-9 crew members inside. Once on the main deck, the crew will exit the spacecraft and undergo medical checks before a short helicopter ride to board a plane for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
As I noted in an earlier post, it will take the astronauts some time to recover from their extended stay in space.
Following an initial health assessment, the four astronauts will be flown to their crew quarters at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for several more days of routine health checks.If they are given the all-clear by NASA’s flight surgeons, they will be able to go home to their families, who have been missing them for the last 286 days. Although they have completed their 17-hour journey back to Earth, the astronauts now face a grueling road to recovery. Between low gravity and extreme levels of space radiation, living on the ISS takes a serious toll on the human body. Health experts told DailyMail.com that when Williams and Wilmore emerge from the spacecraft, they won’t even be able to walk.
But it looks like they may all be back with their families to enjoy Easter, by the grace of God, SpaceX technology and teamwork.
Of course, much has changed since the Starliner team docked on the ISS.
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