NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is all set to conclude her extended spaceflight mission in March following spending more than eight months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Williams, alongside fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore, will return to Earth following the arrival of Crew-10 next month. Williams and Wilmore confirmed that the Crew-10 mission is scheduled to launch from Earth on March 12. The four-person team will dock with the ISS for a six-month-long mission, ensuring the continuous presence of NASA personnel aboard the space station.
Williams, who presently serves as the commander of the ISS, will oversee a transition process following Crew-10’s arrival. A new Space Station Commander will take charge as part of a week-long handover period before the departing astronauts begin their journey back home. “The plan is that Crew-10 will launch on March 12, do a turnover for a week, and we will return on March 19,” astronaut Butch Wilmore told.
Initially, Williams and Wilmore travelled to the ISS in June 2023 aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which encountered technical issues. Their return has been contingent on Crew-10’s arrival to maintain normal staffing levels for the American segment of the ISS. The two veteran astronauts will board the same Dragon spacecraft that transported Crew-10 to space. The undocking is scheduled for March 19, marking the end of their prolonged stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Earlier last month, in a conversation with NASA officials, Williams remarked, “It doesn’t feel like we’re cast away. Eventually, we want to go home because we left our families a little while ago, but we have a lot to do while we’re up here.”
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