What started as a space mission that was supposed to last for no more than 10 days turned into a nine-month lengthy stay in the International Space Station (ISS) with plenty of question marks.
Thankfully, the wait has come to an end as NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have finally returned safely back to land on Earth.
They started their journey back home
It was on Tuesday, March 18, that both Wilmore and Williams were accompanied by fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to make their way back to Earth.
The SpaceX Crew-9 was undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. EST and landed hours later.
They landed safely
NASA and SpaceX announced the crew’s safe landing on X (formerly Twitter) with the capsule splashing down in the ocean.
Before its splash, four orange and white parachutes were deployed, leading to the capsule’s smooth splash at around 6:00 p.m. local time.
NASA and SpaceX celebrated
“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, Nick, Suni, Butch, and Aleks!” SpaceX wrote on X.
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In the video, an announcer can be heard saying: “And Splashdown! Crew 9, back on earth,” as people applauded and cheered on. “Nick, Aleks, Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” another woman tells the crew.
A new crew has taken over
Wilmore and Williams’ departure came after a new crew arrived at the ISS on Friday, March 14, to take over a joint SpaceX and NASA mission.
The new crew includes astronauts Anne McClain, and Nichole Ayers, in addition to mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
The political shift in their stay
The pair voted in the 2024 US elections from space.
Moreover, due to them being stuck in space because of mechanical issues in their aircraft, in addition to their stay being constantly delayed, US President Donald Trump blamed the Biden administration for all that had happened to them.
Williams opened up about the experience
“We knew that it would be probably a month or so, honestly. But the extended stay was just a little bit different,” she said, according to WBZ-TV.
“I haven’t walked. I haven’t sat down. I haven’t laid down. You don’t have to. You can just close your eyes and float where you are right here,” she continued.
Wilmore said they haven’t felt “abandoned”
“We don’t feel stuck, we don’t feel stranded,” Wilmore told CNN. “If you’ll help us change the rhetoric, help us change the narrative, let’s change it to ‘prepared and committed,’ That’s what we prefer,” he continued.
