Astronauts Stranded for 9 Months Returning Home

After 9 months trapped in space, U.S. astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally returning home. The duo is scheduled to return to Earth on Tuesday afternoon or March 18. If the weather is favorable, the mission will conclude off the coast of Florida. 

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov just docked at the International Space Station to serve as the replacement crew and also to rescue the stranded astronauts. 

They launched aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft and docked on Sunday. The launch had been delayed by a few days. Still, conditions were good enough to finally get the crew to the International Space Station. Undoubtedly, the two stuck astronauts had waited long enough. 

On the ride back home, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will accompany them.

Wilmore and Williams were stranded in June 2024 when their spacecraft, a Boeing Starliner,  had issues with its propulsion system, making it unfit for travel.