Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore finally set to return in March 17 or 18

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who originally embarked on a 10-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2024, are now preparing to return home after an unexpected 10-month stay. NASA has confirmed that the duo will return aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission as early as March 16, pending the successful launch of Crew-10 this week.

Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024. However, thruster malfunctions during docking prevented the spacecraft from safely bringing them back. After an extensive investigation, NASA deemed the Starliner too risky for their return, leaving the astronauts stranded on the ISS. The Starliner capsule returned to Earth without its crew in September.

To ensure their safe return, NASA added Williams and Wilmore to SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which initially launched in September 2024 with only two astronauts—NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Aleksandr Gorbunov. This adjustment allowed for additional seats to bring the stranded astronauts back.

The return of Crew-9 was initially scheduled for February but was delayed due to logistical considerations. NASA has now cleared the launch of Crew-10, which is set for March 12 from Kennedy Space Center. The new crew—Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Takuya Onishi, and Kirill Peskov—will travel to the ISS aboard the Endurance capsule due to construction delays affecting the originally planned Crew Dragon spacecraft.

If all goes according to plan, Crew-9 will undock on March 16 following a two-day handover period on March 14 and 15. However, if Crew-10’s launch is delayed, Crew-9’s return will also be postponed. Backup launch windows are scheduled for March 13 at 7:35 PM and March 14 at 7:04 PM, which could shift Crew-9’s return to March 17 or 18.

NASA and SpaceX completed a full launch rehearsal on March 10, signaling final preparations for the long-awaited return of Williams and Wilmore.