WASHINGTON: A pair of US astronauts stuck for more than nine months on the International Space Station will be returned to Earth on Tuesday (Mar 18) evening, NASA said.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are to be transported home with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, after a replacement crew arrived at the ISS early on Sunday.
The stranded duo have been on the ISS since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage suffered propulsion issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth.
NASA said in a statement on Sunday evening that it had moved forward the astronauts’ anticipated ocean splashdown off the Florida coast to approximately 5.57pm on Tuesday (Wednesday, 5.57am, Singapore time). It was initially slated for no sooner than Wednesday.
“The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week,” the space agency said.
