SpaceX Capsule Arrives to Retrieve Stranded ISS Astronauts
Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore, stuck on the ISS for nearly 10 months due to a spacecraft failure, are set to return to Earth this week.
- The SpaceX Crew Dragon docked with the International Space Station early Sunday morning, delivering a replacement crew and enabling the retrieval of stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore.
- Williams and Wilmore have been on the ISS since June 2024, far exceeding their planned one-week mission due to technical failures with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which returned to Earth empty in September.
- The newly arrived Crew-10, consisting of two NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut, will replace the outgoing Crew-9, which includes Williams, Wilmore, and two others.
- Crew-9 is expected to return to Earth as early as Wednesday, though adverse weather conditions could delay their departure.
- This marks another successful mission for SpaceX, which stepped in to address delays and issues with Boeing's Starliner program, highlighting ongoing challenges in the commercial spaceflight industry.