Two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have successfully splashed down off the coast of Florida, concluding a space mission that lasted over nine months. The astronauts were seen waving as they left their capsule, nearly an hour after it touched down at approximately 6pm local time (10pm UK time). Dolphins were spotted swimming nearby during the operation to retrieve the capsule from the water.

The astronauts’ return journey from the International Space Station (ISS) took 17 hours. Senior NASA administrator Joel Montalbano described the landing as “beautiful,” noting that the 150 experiments and 900 hours of research conducted by the crew will be used to inform future moon missions. Steve Stich, a NASA manager, stated that the astronauts would get some “well-deserved time off” with their families once debriefs are complete.

Wilmore and Williams were originally scheduled to spend eight days on the ISS but were stranded due to major issues with Boeing’s Starliner, which had suffered significant technical difficulties. The pair completed various tasks during their extended stay, including spacewalks and experiments, with Williams affectionately referring to the space station as her “happy place.”

Their return was delayed until the arrival of a replacement crew – Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov – to maintain adequate staffing levels on the ISS. The astronauts will now undergo health checks at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, as is standard procedure for astronaut returns, before being permitted to go home. The long duration in space can impact the human body in various ways, from muscle atrophy to potential vision impairment.

NASA’s Crew Dragon, the only American orbital-class crew spacecraft currently in use, brought the astronauts home. Boeing had hoped its Starliner would provide competition to Crew Dragon, but the mission with Wilmore and Williams raised uncertainties about its development.

Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams have logged 286 days in space on this mission, which is longer than the average ISS mission but falls short of the record held by Frank Rubio, who spent 371 days in space due to a coolant leak on a Russian spacecraft.

The mission has also attracted political attention, with former US President Donald Trump calling for an expedited return of the astronauts and asserting, without evidence, that former President Joe Biden had “abandoned” them for political reasons. Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and a close adviser to Trump, echoed these calls. However, Mr. Wilmore dismissed the political discussions, stating that the mission was about planning for unexpected contingencies.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/nasa-astronauts-splash-down-off-florida-coast-after-nine-months-stuck-in-space-13331459