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March 18, 2025 | 10:58 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Two astronauts from NASA, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, are scheduled to return to Earth today, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, after a nine-month mission at the International Space Station (ISS). They were originally planned to stay at the ISS for eight days, as part of the first manned space mission from Boeing's Starliner in June 2024.
A gas leak and technical problems in the propulsion system found on the Starliner when it docked at the ISS forced Wilmore and Williams to stay longer. NASA then assigned them additional scientific research missions and maintenance tasks along with five other astronauts at the ISS.
Thus, Wilmore and Williams waited for the next space shuttle mission to arrive at the station, which they could take to return. Starliner had already returned to Earth in September last year. NASA did not allow the two astronauts to return with it because it was considered risky.
The anticipated ISS mission is SpaceX Crew-10, whose Crew Dragon capsule has been modified in its cabin space to accommodate Wilmore and Williams as additional astronauts. The spacecraft arrived on Saturday night, March 15, 2025. Wilmore and Williams will take turns riding it on the return journey. They will be accompanied by the Crew-9 mission crew, namely NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who arrived at the ISS in September 2024.
All four members of SpaceX Crew-10 and the seven members of Expedition 72 crew joined together for a welcoming ceremony shortly after the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. (NASA)
According to the schedule, the Crew Dragon will leave the ISS at 01:05 ET (05:05 GMT) today. They are projected to travel for 17 hours before landing in the Gulf of Mexico at 17:57 ET. The landing location will be adjusted according to local weather conditions.
NASA initially planned to return the Crew-10 capsule on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025. However, as reported by Reuters, the plan was moved up to Tuesday due to the predicted worsening weather in the coming days.
Upon arriving on Earth, Wilmore, Williams, and the other Crew-9 members will be flown to the Johnson Space Center NASA for post-mission medical check-ups for several days.
The ISS, which orbits about 409 kilometers above the Earth, has been continuously inhabited by astronauts from various countries for nearly 25 years. This international space station serves as a research laboratory and a symbol of international cooperation in space exploration among the U.S., Russia, and other partners.
Delaying Wilmore and Williams' return adds to Boeing's challenges, which has been working on Starliner for years, like SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
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