ISS Astronauts on the Brink of Splashdown After Being Stranded

WASHINGTON: Two NASA astronauts, who unexpectedly spent over nine months in space, were just hours away from their return to Earth on Tuesday, wrapping up a mission that has garnered global attention.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, along with their American colleague Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, departed from the International Space Station earlier that morning after sharing heartfelt farewells and embraces with the remaining crew members.

Their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, named Freedom, is currently orbiting Earth on a 17-hour journey that will conclude with a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida, near Tallahassee, around 5:57 PM ET (2157 GMT).

A recovery vessel will pick them up, and they will be flown to Houston, where they will undergo a 45-day rehabilitation program.

Wilmore and Williams, both experienced Navy pilots and veterans of two previous space missions, traveled to the orbital lab in June last year. What was intended to be a short trip to test Boeing’s Starliner during its inaugural crewed flight turned into a prolonged stay when the spacecraft encountered propulsion issues and was unable to return with them, ultimately coming back empty.

They were reassigned to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which docked at the ISS last September with only two crew members, rather than the typical four, to accommodate them, leading to their designation as the “stranded” astronauts.

NASA has, however, pushed back against this label, stating they could have been evacuated in case of an emergency if needed.

On Sunday, a relief crew dubbed Crew-10 docked at the station, setting the stage for Crew-9’s departure.

“To our colleagues and dear friends still on the station… we’ll be waiting for you. Crew-9 is going home,” Hague stated.

‘Incredible Resilience’

Wilmore and Williams’ stay in space lasted 286 days, surpassing the standard six-month rotation at the ISS but ranking only sixth among U.S. records for single-mission durations.

Frank Rubio holds the record at 371 days from 2023, while the global record is held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent an astonishing 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir space station.

This experience is considered “par for the course” regarding potential health risks, according to Rihana Bokhari from the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Challenges such as muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts that may cause kidney stones and vision issues, as well as the process of readjusting to gravity, are well understood and effectively managed.

“Individuals like Suni Williams are known for their commitment to exercising, and I believe she exceeds her normal workout requirements,” Bokhari told AFP.

Nonetheless, the unexpected extension of their stay—away from family and initially low on supplies—has captured public interest and sympathy.

“If you learned that you’d be stuck at work for the next nine months, you’d probably have a panic attack,” said Joseph Keebler, a psychologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in an interview with AFP. “These individuals have exhibited remarkable resilience.”

Trump’s Comments

Their unplanned stay also became a political topic, with President Donald Trump and his advisor, Elon Musk, repeatedly suggesting that President Joe Biden had abandoned the astronauts and ignored a previous rescue proposal.

“They shamefully forgot about the astronauts because they saw it as a very embarrassing situation for them,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.

These claims have ignited backlash within the space community, particularly as Musk did not provide any specifics, and NASA’s return mission plan for the astronauts has largely remained unchanged since their reassignment to Crew-9.

Trump has also made headlines for his peculiar comments, referring to Williams, a highly decorated former naval captain, as “the woman with the wild hair,” and speculating about the personal dynamics between the astronauts.

“They’ve been left up there—I hope they enjoy each other’s company, maybe they’ve fallen in love, who knows,” he remarked during a recent press conference at the White House.