Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have successfully returned to Earth after nine months stuck in space - REUTERS photo
Reuters news agency reported on March 19 that two astronauts who had been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) for the past nine months - Mr. Butch Wilmore and Ms. Suni Williams - returned to Earth on a SpaceX spacecraft, landing safely in the sea off the coast of Florida, USA.
Two NASA astronauts have had to stay on the ISS for nearly a year due to technical problems with the Starliner spacecraft built by Boeing, instead of just a week as originally planned.
Journey back to Earth
Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams - two former US Navy test pilots, flew into space on the first test flight of the Boeing Starliner in June 2024, expected to last eight days.
Video of 2 astronauts stuck for 9 months on the International Space Station ISS returning to Earth
However, Starliner's propulsion system has repeatedly encountered problems, causing the return to Earth to be repeatedly postponed until this year, when NASA decided to bring them back on SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, as part of the agency's crew rotation plan.
On the morning of March 18 (Vietnam time), Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams, along with two other astronauts, entered the Crew Dragon spacecraft and separated from the ISS at 12:05 pm, saying goodbye to the seven remaining members on the station.
After a 17-hour journey, the four-person team re-entered the atmosphere at around 4:45 a.m. this morning, March 19. The spacecraft slowed from about 27,000 km/h to just 27 km/h before landing in the ocean, about 80 km off the coast of Florida.
"It's been a long ride. Everyone in the capsule is grinning from ear to ear," Crew-10 mission commander, astronaut Nick Hague, excitedly reported to mission control as soon as he landed.
After being rescued, the astronauts were taken to a rescue ship and quickly flown to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA for health checks before reuniting with their families.
SpaceX support teams work around the ship as it lands in the waters off Tallahassee, Florida - Photo: REUTERS
When space challenges humans
With SpaceX's Crew Dragon the only US vehicle capable of taking astronauts to and from orbit, the Starliner failure has raised questions about the future of the Boeing-developed spacecraft program.
In addition, spending too much time in space can take a toll on the human body, such as muscle atrophy or vision loss. The two astronauts have been stuck on the ISS for 286 days — longer than the average six-month ISS mission, but still shorter than the record of 371 consecutive days set by US astronaut Frank Rubio in 2023.
For Williams, the trip marked her third time in space, with a total of 608 days in space - second in NASA history, behind only Peggy Whitson (675 days). The world record currently belongs to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko with 878 days.
Mr. Butch Wilmore, Ms. Suni Williams and two other astronauts on the return trip to Earth - Photo: NASA TV
To ensure the operation of the ISS, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams could not leave immediately but had to wait for the replacement crew to arrive. The Crew-10 team of four astronauts arrived at the ISS on the evening of March 15 (local time), bringing the number of ISS members to 11 in a short time.
"We were prepared for a long trip, even though the original plan was only short-term," Wilmore affirmed, while denying the possibility that NASA kept both of them on the ISS until the Crew-10 team arrived due to political influence.
“That’s the nature of the human spaceflight program: always plan for the unexpected. And we did,” he said.
In the meantime, the two continued to conduct scientific research and maintain the ISS with other astronauts. Ms. Williams also performed two spacewalks, each lasting six hours.
Despite the challenges, both astronauts remain optimistic. Williams said before returning that she was looking forward to seeing her family and two dogs again.
“It's been a roller coaster ride for them, and sometimes it's been harder on the family than it was on us,” she said.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/2-phi-hanh-gia-mac-ket-9-thang-tren-iss-chinh-thuc-tro-ve-trai-dat-20250319074632263.htm
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