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Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stand a chance at finally coming home, NASA announced on Tuesday, a few weeks sooner than previously announced.
The two astronauts were launched on Boeing Starliner’s first crewed test flight, though things went awry, and they were forced to stay on the station for longer than anticipated. CNN has reported that the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will be swapped for astronaut flights, allowing for the schedule to be tweaked. It will now be launched on March 12 “pending mission readiness.”
As reported by CNN, a statement from the space agency reveals that the Crew Dragon Freedom, which is currently sitting at the space station, can
“Return to Earth following a several-day handover period with the newly arrived Crew-10 expedition crew."
Everything we know about Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore's return back to Earth
As reported by USA Today, Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said in a statement:
“Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges. Our operational flexibility is enabled by the tremendous partnership between NASA and SpaceX and the agility SpaceX continues to demonstrate to safely meet the agency’s emerging needs."
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck at the ISS since June 2024, spending over eight months in anticipation of returning to Earth. The two astronauts were initially supposed to spend a few days there when they arrived at the orbital outpost on the inaugural flight test for Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
However, their departure was postponed several times by the US Space Agency, until it was decided in August that the best way to bring them back home would be via a SpaceX Dragon vehicle early this year.
The agency previously announced that the target to launch this vehicle would be March 25. However, plans were reportedly adjusted to utilize the Dragon spacecraft Endurance, which has been used before. At the time of writing, the teams at NASA and SpaceX are checking the spacecraft for safety.
The latest announcement comes on the heels of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump sparking interest in the two astronauts' situation. According to CNN, the two tried to take credit for their return on the SpaceX capsule, despite the plan having been in the works for months.
Per the outlet, the billionaire mogul said in 2022 that the Trump administration advised him to bring Suni Williams and Wilmore home “as soon as possible.” Musk shared through X,
“The POTUS has asked SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the Space Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long."
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USA Today reports that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will now make their way back to Earth alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
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