Indian-born NASA scientist and her colleague have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) for more than eight months. The US space agency plans to bring them back this month through SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which will be launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, March 13.
The spacecraft Dragon will lift off with four NASA astronauts as part of the Crew-10 mission, which will replace the current Crew-9 mission aboard the flying laboratory. The astronauts have successfully completed a rehearsal to land on the ISS. The four astronauts will launch at 5:18 am IST on March 13 are astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
How NASA Will Rescue Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore?
During the launch, the Falcon-9 will deploy the Dragon spacecraft into space for a about 12-hour flight to the Space Station. The crew will dock their spacecraft, which will mark the beginning of the crew-10 mission. After reaching the ISS, Sunita Williams will hand over the research and experiments to the new team.
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After the handover, the Crew-9 with NASA astronauts Williams and Willmore will board the Dragon flight to return back home. The Crew Dragon Freedom, carrying Williams and her crewmates, is expected to undock from the ISS on Sunday, March 16 around 6:30 PM IST. However, this timeline could change depending on the weather conditions in the splashdown area.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been on the ISS since September 2024, following an extended mission due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Their return to Earth will conclude a nearly ten-month stay in space, which was initially planned to last just eight days.