- SpaceX’s Falcon 9 successfully launched Friday evening from Kennedy Space Center, heading to the ISS to rescue astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. The two have been stranded in space since June 2024. The mission was delayed earlier this week due to a hydraulic issue.
- Wilmore and Williams were supposed to stay a week in space. They ended up spending nearly 300 days in orbit after Boeing’s Starliner capsule malfunctioned.
- NASA announced that Wilmore, Williams and a third colleague completed about 900 hours of work in space. The trio plans to depart the ISS on March 19.
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched successfully Friday evening, March 14, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The vessel will go to the International Space Station (ISS) to rescue two astronauts stranded in space since June 2024.
The mission, which was initially delayed earlier this week due to a hydraulic system issue, had been scrubbed 15 minutes before takeoff.
After rescheduling, the Falcon 9 lifted off to bring home astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have spent nearly nine months in orbit. The two astronauts were originally expected to remain at the ISS for one week. However, a Boeing’s Starliner capsule malfunction prevented returning to Earth safely, leaving them on the station for nearly 300 days.
Four astronauts from SpaceX’s Crew-10, representing the United States, Japan and Russia, will relieve Wilmore and Williams. They will also join NASA astronaut Nick Hague and a Russian cosmonaut, both of whom have been at the ISS since September.
NASA confirmed that Hague, Wilmore and Williams completed about 900 hours of work while in space.
In a post from ISS Research’s official X account earlier this month, the agency said that Hague, Wilmore and Williams will undergo a brief “handover period” with Crew-10, as “they conducted dozens of experiments during their stay aboard” the ISS.
Hague, Wilmore and Williams plan to depart the ISS Wednesday, March 19, according to NASA.
