After being stuck in space for 286 days,NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams, and husband Barry Wilmore finally make their return to Earth. They were able to land safely on Earth after Crew-9 commander Hague and cosmonaut Gorbunov rescued the NASA astronauts. The journey to ISS, where Sunita Williams and her crew mate, were stuck on Planet Earth took about 17 hours, followed by a gentle splash in the Florida Gulf coast area at 5:57 pm EDT.
Near the landing dock, a SpaceX recovery ship was stationed to help the crew out of the cabin and onto the stretchers for medical assistance. While the ship landed on the planet at 5:57 pm, the crew was able to take some fresh air and bask in the sunshine only after 6:48 pm.
For Sunita Williams and the crew, this meant an ending of a very long mission which was originally only supposed to be 8 days. This mission, however, stretched to nine and a half months, which took over 4500 orbits and covered 121 million miles in space.
While the astronauts were able to get immediate medical assistance, Sunita Williams and her husband will be under extensive rehabilitation care to help their bodies grasp the sudden change in gravity.
Why Was NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Stuck In Space?
Williams and Wilmore launched to ISS (International Space Station) on June 5, 2024. This was the first piloted test flight of Starliner. However, during their rendezvous in the space station, the spacecraft suffered several helium leaks and thruster problems, that could threaten a safer landing back to planet Earth.
Amongst such problems, NASA eventually decided to keep Sunita Williams and the crew on ISS and bring the spacecraft down by remote control.
While they were still stuck in space, Sunita Williams and crew carried out several types of research that helped NASA maintain the rotation sequence of the ISS and crew.
How Did Sunita Williams Return To Earth?
As videos and pics of Sunita Williams and crew show, the two astronauts floated into Crew 9 spacecraft and undocked from the port early Tuesday, at 1:05 am EDT.
At 5:11 pm, the flight radioed for an automated de-orbit thruster firing the slow down the speed of the spacecraft, allowing for a smoother entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
After 27 minutes, the spacecraft approached the Gulf area of Florida. After 9 minutes of landing on planet Earth, the spacecraft’s three main capsules unfurled and splashed into the gulf. Via the recovery ship, all 4 astronauts, including Sunita Williams, were flown to shore in a helicopter, where NASA’s team was waiting to take them back to their Space Center and reunite them with their families.
NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams: Backstory
Sunita Williams is an American-Indian astronomer who has had the experience of visiting ISS three times. In 1983, she entered the US Naval Academy and went for aviator training. In 1993, she became a naval test pilot and later a test pilot instructor. In 1998 when she entered actual astronaut training.
In 2006, Sunita Williams flew aboard the space shuttle ISS, where she made spacewalks, and spent a total of 29 hours outside the spacecraft. During this mission, she spent 195 days in space, setting the world record.