A new crew has arrived at the International Space Station, taking over from the four fliers who had been long overdue for a return to Earth. Among those returning are Starliner astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams, marking the end of their extended 286-day space journey. Launched in June on Boeing’s Starliner capsule, Wilmore and Williams are now heading back with Crew 9 commander Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, who arrived at the station last September on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
As the Crew 9 Dragon undocked from the ISS early Tuesday, Hague expressed gratitude for their time at the station, emphasizing the privilege of being part of a global mission for the benefit of humanity. The crew bid farewell to their colleagues on the station, confident in leaving it in capable hands. The spacecraft is expected to splashdown off the Florida coast at 5:57 p.m. EDT.
After leaving the station, the crew will undergo a de-orbit thruster firing to slow down the ship for re-entry. Following a free fall and descent into the atmosphere, the Crew Dragon will make a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Gulf Coast. A SpaceX recovery ship will assist in retrieving the spacecraft and providing initial medical checks for the crew upon their return.
Live coverage of the astronauts’ return will be available on CBS News starting at 5:50 p.m. EDT. Wilmore and Williams’ mission extension was due to Starliner technical issues, prompting NASA to adjust crew rotations and keep them on the station longer than planned.
In their space suits, Crew 9 commander Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov posed for photos in their pressure suit undergarments before boarding the Crew Dragon and undocking from the International Space Station early Tuesday. NASA was able to keep them in space as part of Crew 9, minimizing disruption to the ISS crew rotation sequence while maintaining a full schedule of experiments and research. NASA then cleared the way for Crew 9’s return to Earth by launching four replacements – Crew 10 commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi – last Friday. Handover between the crews was shortened to just one day to take advantage of favorable splashdown weather in the Gulf.
Upon arrival, Crew 10, consisting of Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Kirill Peskov, and Takuya Onishi, was welcomed aboard the space station for their mission. All station astronauts spend two hours daily exercising to minimize bone and muscle loss in space. Wilmore and Williams will face extensive rehabilitation as their bodies readapt to gravity. Hague and Gorbunov, who spent 171 days in space, will also require physical therapy for their re-adaptation.
Although 286 days is a long flight by NASA standards, it falls short of the U.S. record of 371 days set by astronaut Frank Rubio in 2022-23. Rubio’s extended mission resulted from a major coolant leak in the Russian Soyuz, leading to an unplanned year in space. Williams will rank as the second most experienced U.S. astronaut with 608 days in space, behind Peggy Whitson. Wilmore’s total days aloft across three flights will be 464.
Canceled concert by U.S. Marine Band with students of color after Trump’s DEI order, restoring classic cars in classrooms, and the impact of DOGE cuts on national parks.
