Sunita Williams Greets Replacements; Calls It A Wonderful Day
NASA’s Stranded Astronauts Greet Replacements as Return Nears
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, marooned on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024, welcomed their replacements on Sunday, marking a key step toward ending their unexpectedly prolonged mission. A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, launched just over a day ago, docked with the ISS, bringing four new crew members from the US, Japan, and Russia to relieve the stranded pair.
Originally test pilots for Boeing’s Starliner maiden crewed flight, Wilmore and Williams anticipated an eight-day trip. However, thruster failures and helium leaks plagued the Starliner, forcing NASA to send it back to Earth uncrewed in September, extending their stay to over nine months. On Sunday, Wilmore opened the station’s hatch and rang the ceremonial bell as the newcomers floated in, greeted with warm hugs and handshakes. “It was a wonderful day. Great to see our friends arrive,” Williams told Mission Control.
The incoming Crew-10 team, including NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, will spend several days shadowing Wilmore and Williams to master station operations. Later this week, the outgoing duo will board a SpaceX capsule—docked since September with Crew-9’s Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov—for their journey home. Weather permitting, they’ll undock no earlier than Wednesday, aiming for a splashdown off Florida’s coast.
