After more than eight months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her crewmate Butch Wilmore are scheduled to return to Earth on March 19, 2025.
Their return was delayed due to technical problems with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, even though their extended stay was originally only supposed to last eight days. The Starliner was unsafe for re-entry due to a number of malfunctions, including helium leaks and thruster problems.
NASA has accelerated the Crew-10 mission, which is set to launch on March 12, 2025, to make their return easier. Including Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, this mission will introduce a new crew to the ISS. Before boarding the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to return home, Williams and Wilmore will go through a week-long handover process after arriving.
Throughout this mission, Williams has been in charge of the ISS as its commander, supervising a number of scientific research initiatives while they wait to return.
NASA’s decision to use the Crew Dragon instead of the Starliner for their return illustrates how dependent the agency is on private companies like SpaceX to guarantee crew safety and mission success.
