Stranded Astronauts Safely Return To Earth On SpaceX Shuttle After 9 Months In Space
The two U.S. astronauts who have been stranded on the International Space Station for months enthusiastically emerged from their rescue capsule after safely returning to earth on Tuesday evening.
Butch Wilmore, 62, and Suni Williams, 59, splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule just before 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday. The successful rescue effort put an end to a nine-month saga in space that was initially supposed to last just eight days when the mission was launched back in June.
“Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” a Mission Control dispatcher radioed the crew after the “Dragon Freedom” capsule touched down. Less than an hour later, the safely returned astronauts, along with American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, were extracted from the SpaceX capsule by a recovery vessel.
Both Williams and Wilmore could be seen beaming ear-to-ear as they waved and pumped their fists as they were helped onto their feet and transported away on wheelchairs.
The stranded astronauts conducted more than 150 experiments during their extended stay on the ISS, valuable work that will play a crucial role in the future of space travel, Joel Montalbano, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for space operations told reporters after the splashdown. “The work we do on the International Space Station benefits the nation, benefits people on Earth and are the building blocks for going back to the moon and to Mars,” he said.
The return flight officially got underway at 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning and lasted 17 hours before the astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of America. The capsule — which plunged down to earth at a speed of 400-miles-per-hour — was visible upon descent due to clear skies. Before entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the capsule was traveling at 17,500 miles-per-hour.
Just before final descent, four parachutes slowed the crew’s speed to just 16 miles-per-hour, allowing it to gently splash down. The crew was heard telling mission control they were all “grinning from ear to ear” in radio chatter picked up by CNN moments after the safe landing.
Several recovery vessels immediately converged on the splash-down site in order to safely recover the vessel, while a school of Dolphins also showed up and could be seen swimming on the surface of the ocean.
Dolphins were on-hand to greet the returned crew members
Photo: NASA
The crew members were initially slated to be on the ISS for an eight-day mission, but were ultimately stranded when issues with their Boeing Strainer craft prevented them from returning safely. Numerous delays to the rescue effort — and reports that the Biden Administration delayed a rescue over fears of negative political ramifications in the event of a botched attempt — ultimately left the astronauts stranded in space for 286 days.