Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore Returning on SpaceX Flight After 10 Months

NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams are finally set to return to Earth after a 10-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Originally launched on June 5, 2024, aboard Boeing’s Starliner for a 10-day mission, their return was repeatedly delayed due to technical issues with the spacecraft, forcing NASA to revise its plans.

NASA has now scheduled their return for March 16, 2025, aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The astronauts will depart after the arrival of the Crew-10 mission, which is set to launch on March 12, 2025, from Kennedy Space Center. Crew-10 will bring four new astronauts to the ISS, allowing Crew-9, including Wilmore and Williams, to return. NASA had initially planned for them to come back in February, but operational constraints pushed the date to March.

The Starliner capsule, originally intended for their return, will instead return to Earth uncrewed in September 2024, as NASA continues assessing its reliability. This setback led NASA to reserve seats for Wilmore and Williams on Crew-9’s return flight aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule “Endurance”, which was chosen over a new spacecraft due to battery-related delays.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich emphasized that changes in mission plans are routine. However, the Starliner’s delays highlight challenges that must be addressed before it can be used for regular crewed missions. Meanwhile, NASA’s dependence on SpaceX’s flight-proven hardware continues to grow.

For Wilmore and Williams, their record-breaking mission extension will soon come to an end. While Starliner was meant to demonstrate its reliability, the extended stay underscores the hurdles Boeing faces in developing a dependable crewed spacecraft.