A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station at 1:35 a.m. Eastern time, paving the way for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — two NASA astronauts who have remained in space for months longer than planned — to finally return home.
The Crew-10 mission, an international team of four astronauts from the U.S., Japan and Russia, joined Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore aboard the outpost in the early hours of Sunday. The crews will transfer duties before Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore return to Earth, along with two colleagues.
It has been a long journey for the pair, who initially arrived at the International Space Station last June on what was meant to be a brief, dayslong test flight of a new Boeing Starliner spacecraft. Instead, after malfunctions in the capsule, NASA scientists opted to leave the astronauts at the space station and bring back the Starliner empty.
Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore have lived on the space station for nine months, awaiting new crew members to relieve them of their duties so that operations can run smoothly. The capsule’s trip was due to launch in February but was delayed until this month.
The docking of the SpaceX capsule to the International Space Station on Sunday.Credit…NASA, via Associated Press
Nine months is not an unusually long stay in space — many astronauts on the space station live there for months, and some have even lived there for more than a year. Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore have used the time to conduct experiments, many exploring what the absence of gravity does to a body.
The pair’s unexpectedly long stay in orbit has intrigued space nerds, hobbyists and members of the public alike, fascinated by their fate. Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore have embraced their circumstances, broadcasting regularly from the station and speaking fondly about their layover in space.
“It makes you really want to enjoy every bit of your time that you have up here,” Ms. Williams told “The Daily” last week.
After the crews conduct handover duties, the pair will begin their journey back to Earth, possibly as early as Wednesday morning.
