NASA confirms Sunita Williams’ Earth return date, shares splashdown time

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On Sunday evening, NASA announced that Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to Earth with a splashdown in the ocean off the Florida coast on March 18 (GMT). The duo, who have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June last year, will travel back aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Their return ends an unexpectedly prolonged mission, which NASA extended due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they originally traveled in. Upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the Crew Dragon capsule will perform a controlled descent before safely landing in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, where recovery teams will be on standby to retrieve the astronauts and their spacecraft.

With curiosity building over the return of a pair of US astronauts stuck for more than nine months on the International Space Station (ISS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Sunday confirmed that the duo will return to Earth on Tuesday, March 18, evening (GMT).

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) early Sunday, and it will transport Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, another American astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut back to Earth. The spacecraft, designed for safe and reliable crewed missions, will carry the astronauts home following an extended stay on the ISS. Their return journey will conclude with a controlled descent and ocean splashdown off the Florida coast, marking the completion of their mission in space.

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Sunita Williams return date | Splashdown time

Since June last year, the duo has stayed on the ISS after propulsion issues hit the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed journey, rendering it unfit to fly them back to Earth.

NASA said in a statement on Sunday evening that it had moved forward the astronauts’ anticipated ocean splashdown off the Florida coast to approximately 5:57 pm Tuesday, Florida time, (3:27 am IST, March 19). Officials initially slated it for no sooner than Wednesday.

“The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week,” the space agency said.

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