Sunita Williams will return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is currently preparing for launch. Six astronauts will return to Earth together in this spacecraft. This mission was originally only intended to return four astronauts.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, two NASA astronauts, will shortly return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Elon Musk’s SpaceX company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will be sent out shortly for this purpose. Both astronauts were initially deployed aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the ISS in June 2023, but their return mission had to be delayed because of technical issues. Both astronauts have been stuck on the International Space Station ever since.
Sunita Williams is stranded on the ISS why
The crew’s return was unsafe due to a helium leak and thruster failure on the Starliner spacecraft. In order to wait for a safer option, NASA decided to keep Williams and Wilmore aboard the ISS. Since then, approval has been granted for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to launch once more in order to bring the two astronauts back to Earth.
SpaceX Dragon A fresh return trip home
As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Williams and Wilmore will now board a SpaceX Dragon capsule to return. Originally scheduled to carry astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, Imsen Williams and Wilmore will now join the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. NASA has allowed two additional people to accompany NASA cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov and NASA astronaut Nick Hague on the Crew-9 return flight. In order to return the Crew-9 crew, the Dragon capsule is scheduled to dock with the ISS in early 2025.
How does life on the ISS look
Both Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are safe aboard the ISS, according to NASA. The crew has plenty of room and resources on board the space station, which is about the size of a five-bedroom house. Wilmore is currently the flight engineer, and Williams is the commander of the space station. Both are now making contributions to ongoing maintenance and research projects.
Sunita Williams is still employed at the ISS
Williams recently oversaw the ISS crew’s prompt response to a problem involving a poisonous smell found on the Progress MS-29 cargo spacecraft. Both NASA and Roscosmos turned on air-scrubbing systems after astronauts reported the issue after the spacecraft docked with the ISS’s Poisk module. Although the source of the smell is still being investigated, the issue was successfully handled without any more issues.