The SpaceX capsule tasked with bringing back two NASA astronauts that have spent months on the International Space Station (ISS) after thruster issues following the launch of Boeing’s Starliner mission last year have now departed for Earth.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams undocked early Tuesday from the space-facing port of the ISS Harmony module in the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, NASA confirmed,
The pair are set to return this week after their roughly week-long stay turned into a nine-month mission on the ISS after the Starliner suffered numerous issues from gas leaks to problems with its propulsion system. The capsule was returned to Earth last September without its crew.
Wilmore and Williams were joined on SpaceX’s capsule by two other astronauts: Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The four-person crew, part of NASA’s Crew-9 mission, is set to splashdown off the coast of Florida Tuesday evening.
Starliner’s first crewed mission, which was delayed several times, launched into space last June. SpaceX was originally scheduled to bring the duo home in February but later moved the return mission to March.
The return of Wilmore and Williams became somewhat of a political debate earlier this year, with President Trump claiming former President Biden left the pair “abandoned” on the ISS and asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, one of his closest advisers, to speed up their return.
The astronauts pushed back on the president’s claims, saying during an interview from the ISS that they “don’t feel abandoned.”
“We don’t feel stuck. We don’t feel stranded,” Williams said at the time. “I understand why others may think that. We come prepared. We come committed.”
Former NASA Astronaut Jose Hernandez told NewsNation on Monday that SpaceX helping with the return of the astronauts is an example of the private industry and NASA coexisting and supporting “each other.”
“Recall that Sonny and Butch went up on a test flight for the Starliner main flight for with humans on board, and they had issues, so that eight-day test flight turned into a nine-month ordeal for them,” Hernandez told host Blake Burman on “The Hill.”
“But that’s the nature of the game, and I think we need both private industry and government involved in space, because it creates this healthy balance of competition,” he added.
