Sunita Williams Returns: NASA Updates Crew Rotation Mission
The updated crew rotation mission schedule comes after a prolonged stay on the ISS for Williams and Wilmore, who were originally scheduled to stay for 8 days but have been there for 258 days. Despite the extended stay, the astronauts have made the most of their time in space and are now looking forward to returning home.
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NASA and SpaceX have updated the launch and return dates for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from the International Space Station, with the Crew-10 mission now targeting a launch on March 12 and the Crew-9 mission planned for return to Earth after a handover period.
The launch date has been accelerated due to a decision to use a previously flown Dragon spacecraft, called Endurance, which requires additional processing time. The Dragon spacecraft will be refurbished and ready for flight, including trunk stack, propellant load, and transportation to SpaceX's hangar at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew-10 mission will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and Kirill Peskov to the space station.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been in low-Earth orbit since June, are speaking out to set the record straight about their experience on the International Space Station. They deny being stranded or abandoned, despite claims from President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk that they were left behind by the prior administration. According to Williams and Wilmore, they were always prepared for contingencies and understood that their stay in space might be extended due to issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
The astronauts are now set to return on SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule, with a revised launch date that could bring them home a couple of weeks sooner than initially planned. NASA has not commented on Musk's allegations, but attributed the delay to logistical challenges and safety checks. The Crew-9 mission will return to Earth with astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
