Mon Mar 17 09:53:40 UTC 2025: **Stranded Astronauts to Return to Earth After SpaceX Rescue Mission**
**Cape Canaveral, FL – March 17, 2025** – NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2025, will finally return to Earth on Tuesday. A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying a crew of four replacement astronauts and two stranded astronauts, successfully docked with the ISS on Sunday.
The four-person crew, including NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, arrived on March 16 to relieve Williams and Wilmore. Williams and Wilmore’s original return was delayed after a propulsion failure on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft during its maiden crewed voyage.
NASA will provide live coverage of the return, beginning Monday evening with hatch closure preparations and continuing Tuesday after the spacecraft undocks from the ISS. The splashdown, initially scheduled for Wednesday, has been moved up to approximately 5:57 p.m. EDT Tuesday off the Florida coast. Weather conditions will continue to be monitored, and the precise location will be confirmed closer to the time. The return journey is contingent on favorable conditions and spacecraft readiness. The journey includes Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov as well.
The mission marks the successful completion of a complex rescue operation, highlighting the international collaboration crucial to space exploration.
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