Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will finally make the return trip from the International Space Station (ISS) after their 10-day mission unexpectedly turned into a nine-month residency.
The astronauts, who have been aboard the ISS since June 2024, were transported to the ISS in Boeing’s Starliner, which suffered a lengthy, troubled development period. Plans went awry when, during docking, Starliner suffered thruster failures and helium leaks that meant Nasa was not confident enough to let them take the return trip.
They will now be brought back down to Earth on a SpaceX rocket alongside Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the ISS over the weekend, delivering four astronauts who will be taking the place of the those leaving tomorrow. The ISS was roughly 260 miles above the Atlantic when the docking procedure occurred.
Despite the unexpected addition of two long-term guests, the ISS remained...