When NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Willmore arrived at the International Space Station in June, they expected to stay for a few weeks.
Instead, they were there for nine months. In a few hours they'll go home.
Williams, Willmore and two other astronauts will board SpaceX capsules for a 17-hour journey to Earth on Monday night.
During months in space, people have explained that Williams and Wilmore are stuck, and NASA calls the characterization wrong. Elon Musk and President Trump suggest that they were abandoned and forgotten in space by the Biden administration for political reasons.
The astronauts themselves challenge the concept.
“It's work. It's fun. In an interview with Michael Barbaro, host of The Daily, Wilmore said: “But, 'Stuck?' No. “Stack?” No. “Has it been abandoned?” No. “
Here's more to know about the flight and how it progresses:
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Boarding: Around 10:45pm ET, NASA begins streaming coverage of astronauts boarding the crew's dragon spaceship and hatch closure. The agency's video feed will air on NASA+. This can also be viewed on the video player on this blog.
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departure: Vehicles and astronauts will unlock from the station around 1:05am on Tuesday. NASA will begin streaming coverage of unlocking sequences at 12:45am
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Splashdown: At about 5:57pm on Tuesday, astronaut capsules will splash out from Florida's Gulf Coast. The crew retrieves the vehicle and helps them leave the ship. Soon afterwards, the four fly to Houston, home to NASA's human spaceflight operation hub, Johnson Space Center.
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Crew: The crew includes NASA's Nick Hague and Russian space agency Aleksandr Gorbunov. Mr. Hague is the flight commander and Mr. Golvnov is a pilot. The mission is called Crew-9. Because SpaceX is the ninth such mission to fly with astronauts for an extended stay at the space station.
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mission: Williams and Wilmore went to space to test Starliner, a Boeing spacecraft that offers NASA a second American option to get astronauts in and out of orbit. After the spacecraft experienced problems with the propulsion system, NASA sent it back to Earth in September without its crew. Williams and Wilmore were then fully crewed on the space station, conducting scientific experiments and maintaining them. It has been occupied continuously by astronauts for almost 25 years.
