1 day ago
Last Updated:March 18, 2025, 16:48 IST
Two astronauts in NASA's Crew-9 mission were launched to the ISS using the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule which is getting Wilmore and Williams back home.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida. (IMAGE: REUTERS)
American astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are finally headed home Tuesday after their capsule undocked from the Space Station. Instead of returning in the same spacecraft they were launched in, Wilmore and Williams will return in SpaceX’s Dragon.
Wilmore and Williams, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, undock from the ISS, have begun a 17-hour trip to Earth.
The Crew-10 launch occurred as Wilmore and Williams were asleep in their daily schedule on the station, Dina Contellam, deputy manager of NASA’s ISS program, told reporters after the launch.
The SpaceX’s Dragon has two types of capsules – Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon.
Cargo Dragon on several occasions has been used for uncrewed cargo missions to the Space Station (ISS). The Crew Dragon spacecraft was first launched with crew in 2020.
The Crew Dragon which is being used to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore is autonomous but can also be manually controlled by astronauts. It can carry up to seven astronauts.
They have advanced safety systems including an emergency escape system. It is reusable and built with the aim to reduce cost and make space travel sustainable.
The Dragon has been used to regularly transport NASA, ESA, JAXA, and private astronauts to the ISS.
SpaceX Dragon has been pivotal in advancing commercial spaceflight. In 2012, it became the first private spacecraft to dock with the Space Station (ISS) in 2012.
Crew Dragon in 2020 transported NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the ISS. This was the first time astronauts were launched into orbit from US soil since the Space Shuttle program ended.
The Space Shuttle program was a NASA initiative that operated from 1981 to 2011 which was designed to send astronauts and cargo into space using reusable spacecraft.
Location :Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
First Published:March 18, 2025, 16:48 IST
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