Sunita Williams May Return to Earth on This Date, NASA Shares Latest Update

Sunita Williams May Return to Earth on This Date: NASA had previously authorized astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams stuck on the International Space Station since September to possibly return to Earth earlier than planned. In a statement released this week, the space service agency said that the two would be coming back somewhere in mid-March as opposed to the late March-Appring timeframe offered in the last announcement.

This latest adjustment follows NASA and SpaceX switching up the capsules for the upcoming astronaut flights. The new scenario is intended to shorten the extended stay of Wilmore and Williams in space, which reached the eight-month mark last week. NASA's Commercial Crew Programme Manager Steve Stich added that human spaceflight rarely lacks surprises, and this schedule adjustment was done in the interests of the astronauts returning home sooner.

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Wilmore and Sunita Williams were originally slated for a return in June with the Boeing Starliner capsule after supposed one-week flight demonstration. NASA decided to send back the unmanned capsule after it got into serious trouble reaching the ISS. Meanwhile, the astronauts found themselves reassigned to the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The delays worsened as the other crew got postponed due to extra preparation time for the new capsule. This would have led Wilmore and Williams in for an extended period of their mission and a further return to fit into the year.

With further delay expected for the new capsule, NASA decided to send the next crew on an older, flying SpaceX capsule. The mission is now fast-tracked for take-off on March 12 and was originally meant for a private crew arranged by Axiom Space. The private crew, which includes astronauts from Poland, Hungary, and India, will now fly later in spring, as Wilmore and Williams return.

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Generally, NASA would prefer that the new crew arrive before the current crew returns so that smooth operations can be assured during the handover. The crew assigned to launch to the ISS in this instance gets two NASA astronauts plus augmenting astronauts from Japan and Russia.

Just two weeks ago, NASA gave an announcement that it was working "expeditiously" to bring Wilmore and Williams back to Earth. Since then, the announcement comes hot on the heels of promises by President Trump along with SpaceX CEO Musk, both of whom have made it their mission to hasten the astronauts' return.

If the new timeline holds, Wilmore and Williams' long sojourn in space will come to an end, wrapping up a mission that has seen its fair number of unprecedented challenges.

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