It seems to be like Butch and Suni’s trip house is headed their method.
The two NASA astronauts — Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams — have been caught on the International Space Station for almost 4 months, because of issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that had been meant to hold them again to Earth after a mere eight days.
On Saturday, although, somewhat after 10 a.m. PT, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral carrying the Dragon spacecraft that is set to finally convey Wilmore and Williams again to Earth. (The Boeing Starliner returned house and not using a crew earlier this month, touchdown in New Mexico on Sept. 6.)
The SpaceX Dragon holds NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Two different crew members have been bumped from this mission to go away a pair of seats empty for Butch and Suni’s return journey.
The two at the moment are scheduled to move again to Earth, together with Hague and Gorbunov, in February 2025. In the meantime, they’re going to be engaged on analysis, upkeep and information evaluation, they usually additionally plan to vote from house within the November presidential election.
Neither Wilmore nor Williams appears to have gotten fidgety throughout their unexpectedly prolonged keep. “It’s very peaceable up right here,” Williams mentioned throughout a reside information convention on Sept. 20, although she did add that the 2 miss their households again on Earth.
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The Dragon is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 2:30 p.m. PT on Sunday, with NASA overlaying the rendezvous, docking and hatch opening reside beginning at 1:30 p.m. PT. It’ll additionally broadcast the crew welcome ceremony as soon as Hague and Gorbunov are on board the house station. You can watch on NASA Plus, on the company’s web site and on quite a lot of platforms, together with YouTube.
“This mission required lots of operational and planning flexibility. I congratulate your entire group on a profitable launch at present, and godspeed to Nick and Aleksandr as they make their technique to the house station,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson mentioned in a press launch Saturday.
“Our NASA wizards and our business and worldwide companions have proven as soon as once more the success that comes from working collectively and adapting to altering circumstances with out sacrificing the protected {and professional} operations of the International Space Station.”
