After a dramatic nine months in orbit, punctuated by intense media attention and political wrangling, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally preparing to return to Earth, as per Bloomberg.
The two are scheduled to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule around 1 a.m. New York time on Tuesday, with splashdown expected around 6 p.m.
The pair’s mission took an unexpected turn after they arrived at the ISS last June aboard a Boeing Co. Starliner spacecraft for what was initially planned as a week-long stay. Due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner, NASA decided in August to bring them home on a rival SpaceX capsule, extending their mission to nearly a year.
The prolonged stay turned into an international story, with some media outlets dubbing the astronauts “stranded,” highlighting NASA’s apparent reluctance to utilize the Starliner for their return. The situation intensified scrutiny on Boeing’s struggling space program, which has been plagued by crises and leadership changes.
The extended mission also underscored NASA’s increasing reliance on SpaceX for its human spaceflight programs. As the drama unfolded, President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk injected a political dimension, with Trump accusing the Biden administration of neglecting the astronauts and Musk claiming they were left in space for political reasons.
With the arrival of a replacement crew at the ISS, Wilmore and Williams’ extended mission is now drawing to a close.
NASA has consistently downplayed any safety concerns, emphasizing that the agency has routinely extended astronauts’ stays on the space station to accommodate scheduling changes and technical considerations. The agency also stresses that at least one spacecraft has always been docked at the ISS, providing a means of emergency return if necessary.
In contrast to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which has been reliably transporting astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020, Boeing’s Starliner program has faced significant challenges. The spacecraft’s first uncrewed test flight in 2019 experienced software malfunctions, contributing to over $2 billion in program cost overruns. The future of the Starliner program remains uncertain, with Bloomberg reporting that Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg is considering pruning the company’s portfolio. The success of SpaceX has provided NASA with a crucial backup option, a situation rarely available in the agency’s history. The Commercial Crew program was established to ensure NASA had multiple means of transporting astronauts to the ISS.
