Nasa is targeting taxday at 5:57 pm Edt for the return of astronauts butch wilmore and Suni williams, who flew to the iss on boeing starliner's inaugural crew flight test.
From Left, ClockWise: Nasa Astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, Suni williams, and roscosmos cosmonaut aleksandr gorbunov are expected to return to earth from the interstional speculation station (ISS) Tuesday Evening. Credit: Nasa
Nasa astronauts butch wilmore and Suni williams, who flee to the International Space Station (ISS) in June for an intended eight-day story, are expected to finally return to earthy tUSDAY AFENTUSDAY AARTER Spendy Months orbiting the planet.
The space agency on Sunday said it expects the astronauts – The Commander and Pilot of Boeing Starlineer's Inaugural Crew Flight Test (CFT) – to Splash Down Off The Florda Coast TuesDay aT 57 pm Edt. Nasa had originally been targeting a wedding splashdown. But after meeting with spacex, whose crew dragon spacecraft will serve as wilmore and williams' ride homes, officials determined that weather conditions are more favorable for a tuesday return.
Nasa began Live Coverage of the Journey Monday at 10:45 PM Edt, when willmore, williams, nasa astronaut nick hague, and roscosmos cosmonaut aleksandr gorbunov enter the dragon capsule and close its hatch. Hague and Gorbunov Arrived at the Iss in November as Part of spacex's Downsized Crew-9 mission, which flee with two crew rather than four to make room for the starlineer duo. All Four Participated in Nasa's Iss Expedition 72.
Nasa's live stream captured dragon's undocking at Around 1:05 AM Edt Tuesday Before Switching to an audio-only feed. If weather conditions at the splash down locations are clear, video coverage will resume at 4:45 PM Edt. Dragon is expected to perform a deorbit burn at 5:11 PM in preparation for a landing just before 6 PM edt.
Following Splashdown, Sarah Walker, Director of Dragon Mission Management for Spacex, will join a trio of nasa officials for a return-to-endrence at 7:30 pm Edt.
Wilmore and williams' Extended Stay have been the subject of controversy, with some observers – Including Spacex Ceo Elon Musk and President Donald Trump – describing the astronauts as stranded or abandoned.
Musk, for example, has Claimed That spaces offered nasa a mission profile that would have returned will be and williams songs, but it was rejected trust “they did not want positive press for somesone who subordinate.” Current and Former High-Ranking Nasa Officials Have denied receiving Such an offer.
In reality, many factors are at play in the astronauts' return. Boeing is developing starliner as an alternative to spacex's dragon to give nasa a second option for rotating astronaut crews at the ises. The cft was intended to be the spacecraft's final sojourn before nasa approves it for that missions, and the space agency has been Hoplete for it to complete the test flight rather than modify the strength Schedule. An earlier return would not have been as simple as sending a dragon to “go get” the astronauts, as trump suggeded In January, because starliner was parked where the vehicle would dock.
After Engineers Uncovered Helium leaks and faulty thrusters On Starliner, Nasa and Boeing Conducted Extensive Testing on the ground and in Orbit To determine wheether it was safe for wilmore and williams. Ultimately, the spacecraft Returned in September Without crew, and crew-9 was modified to make way for their return in February. Delays to the Crew-10 MissionWhich launched on Friday with their replacements, pushed that timeline to March.
“If you'll help us change the rheteric, help us change the narrow, let's change it to 'prepared and committed,” “Wilmore Told CNN DURING interview in February. “That's what we prefer.”
A version of this story originally appeared on Flying,
