LOADINGERROR LOADINGTwo NASA astronauts have splashed down off Florida’s coast after spending nine months stuck in space due to a malfunctioning return ship and a series of delays and staffing issues.A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams landed in the Gulf of Mexico just before 6 p.m. ET Tuesday. All four parachutes deployed as intended in the final moments of the crew’s 17-hour journey back to Earth. Within minutes of landing, crews approached the capsule to conduct safety checks on the spacecraft.Advertisement
NASA’s Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency joined the pair in the capsule. After splashdown, it’s expected to take about an hour for the Dragon capsule and its crew to be retrieved. (Live video of the event can be seen here.)NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, are seen before preparing to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on June 5, 2024.MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO via Getty ImagesWilmore and Williams had been at the International Space Station since June after their original ride there, a Boeing Starliner spacecraft, malfunctioned. Their visit was initially expected to last about nine days but it ultimately stretched into nearly a year, leading to criticism and speculation that they had been “stranded” there.Advertisement
The pair was meant to only test out Boeing’s Starliner transportation vessel. But after safely reaching the space station, the vessel, which experienced issues and delays before liftoff, was determined to be too risky for the pair’s return use and it was sent back to Earth unmanned.NASA later said the astronauts would instead return on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that docked at the space station with two empty seats for them in September. That spacecraft, called Dragon Freedom, wasn’t scheduled to leave for Earth until February, however. Advertisement
Come December, NASA said it would again have to postpone their return to late March, at the earliest, due to technical issues on Earth with a new Dragon vehicle that was meant to carry a relief crew up to replace Wilmore and Williams.To help speed things up, a different Dragon spacecraft was ultimately launched on Friday with a relief crew, allowing the Dragon Freedom’s departure from the space station early Tuesday.The space agency argued that they could bring back Wilmore and Williams at any time but that the pair had become full-fledged station crew members at the space station and returning them to Earth before other astronauts were available to replace them would jeopardize the science and maintenance of the station.Advertisement
This image taken from NASA video shows the SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian astronaut Alexander Gorbunov, undocking from the International Space Station on Tuesday.via Associated PressPresident Donald Trump in late January further stoked scrutiny of the astronauts’ conditions when he publicly alleged that they had “been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden administration.” He said he had personally asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to “go get” the astronauts.Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free PressThe next four years will change America forever. But HuffPost won't back down when it comes to providing free and impartial journalism.For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless newsroom. We hope you'll join us.You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.NASA said such a plan had already been in the works with SpaceX for months, however.Throughout the public criticism and skepticism, both Wilmore and Williams publicly maintained that they were healthy and well, though eager to return to Earth.Advertisement
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