Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have successfully returned to Earth after an unanticipated mission at the International Space Station (ISS) that lasted over nine months. They made their landing in the waters off the coast of Florida early on Wednesday.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, transporting two astronauts, including American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, traversed the atmosphere before releasing parachutes for a smooth landing in the waters off the Florida coast at 3:27 am IST.
In June of the previous year, the two astronauts traveled to the orbital laboratory as part of a mission intended to last several days, aimed at testing Boeing’s Starliner during its inaugural crewed flight. Unfortunately, the spacecraft encountered propulsion issues and was subsequently considered unfit for the return journey, resulting in its return without any crew on board.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore covered 121,347,491 miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around the Earth.
Nick Hague and Aleksander Gorbunov covered 72,553,920 miles throughout their mission, spent a total of 171 days in space, and accomplished 2,736 orbits around the Earth.
The Crew-9 mission was the first spaceflight for Gorbunov. Hague has accumulated a total of 374 days in space across his two missions, while Williams has spent 608 days in space during her three flights. Additionally, Wilmore has recorded 464 days in space over the course of his three missions.
