Sunita Williams Return LIVE Updates: Dragon To Re-Enter Earth's Atmosphere Shortly, Less Than An Hour To Go For Splashdown

NASA began its splashdown coverage at 2.15 am as the countdown began for the return of the astronauts on Wednesday IST.

Indian-origin US astroanut Sunita Williams has spent a total of 609 days in total in space. She undertook 3 missions to spend these days in the space.

Russia’s Oleg Kononenko spent 1,110 days in a total of 5 missions.

During their unexpected extended stay at the Space Station, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore made significant contributions to scientific research as they carried out more than 150 experiments, enhancing the human understanding of several fields.

Williams conducted two key spacewalks in January to fix a telescope outside the ISS.

They engaged themselves in Space Station operations as they swiftly adapted to life in zero gravity.

The weather off the Florida coast where SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is set to splashdown as part of its water landing is clear for now, according to the reports. NASA and SpaceX are constantly monitoring the weather situation in the area.

The spacecraft is set to land at 3.27 am IST on Wednesday.

Former ISRO chief S Somanath lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s letter to Sunita Williams and said that he used to enquire about her safe return with him, which showed “genuine concerns for the wellbeing of an India origin daughter”.

“Sunita, we all wait for sharing your experience when you are back,” he posted on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday wrote to Sunita Williams ahead of her return to Earth and wished her a safe return and good health.

He also invited her to India and said that “it will be a pleasure for India to host one of its most illustrious daughters”.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are accompanied by NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

Hague and Borbunov had arrived at the Space Station on the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

People in Jhulasan, the native village of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, offered prayers at the Dola Mata temple for her safe return to Earth.

She is scheduled to land on Earth at 3.27 am on Wednesday.

Astronaut Nick Hague took to X and said that it’s been a “privilege” to call the Space Station home and play his part in its 25-year legacy of being involved in research for humanity.

“My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected,” he wrote.

Crew9 will be difficult to spot in the daytime as the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft reenters the atmosphere of the Earth at 5:57 pm EDT, NASA said.

“#Crew9 will be difficult to spot in the daytime as it reenters Earth’s atmosphere, but if you want to keep an eye out for @SpaceX’s Dragon as it heads home today, we have the map for you,” it posted on X.

Astronauts almost always fly back in the same spacecraft they launched in. Wilmore and Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner and will return in SpaceX’s Dragon.

Their first flights were aboard NASA’s space shuttle, followed by Russia’s Soyuz capsule. Both the Starliner and Dragon are completely autonomous but capable of manual command if necessary.

Williams and Wilmore will first be flown to their crew quarters at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for several days of health checks, per routine for astronaut returns, before flight surgeons approve they can go home to their families.

This is especially because living in space for months can affect the human body in multiple ways, from muscle atrophy to possible vision impairment.

With prayers on their lips, residents of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams’ ancestral village in Gujarat are waiting for her safe return to Earth with bated breath and planned Diwali-like festivities to mark the occasion on Wednesday morning.

Williams is scheduled to return to Earth after a nine-month stay at the Space Station.

She has been in the thoughts and prayers of the villagers, eagerly awaiting her safe return.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has called NASA astronaut Sunita Williams a “daughter of India”, as the world awaits her return along with Butch Wilmore, both of whom have spent nearly nine months on the Space Station.

Singh said the country is “proud” of her and praying for her safe return.

“…She (Sunita Williams), being a daughter of India, has made the entire world proud…She has successfully accomplished the task that she was assigned to. While all of us pray for a safe return, we also feel proud of her…A very pleasant coincidence is the fact that today itself, Prime Minister Modi made a statement on Maha Kumbh in the Parliament and incidentally, Sunita also expressed her best wishes for the Kumbh…,” Singh told ANI.

Nasa astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague are expected to reach earth on March 19; the splashdown is expected at 3.27am as per Indian Standard Time. Fans and followers of the astronauts who have been praying for their safe return are worried about their health, especially how they will adjust to the earth’s gravitational force.

“A lot of them don’t want to be brought out on a stretcher, but they’re told they have to be,” John DeWitt, director of applied sports science at Rice University in Texas and a former senior scientist at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center told Live Science. He has developed methods to improve astronaut health during spaceflight.

ISRO chief V Narayanan spoke exclusively to CNN-News18, expressing hope that the astronauts will return safely. The Indian space agency chief also noted the challenges involved in a complex mission of this nature.

“When we talk about space systems, the challenges are inbuilt. There is a small leakage of the helium, and to isolate some of the thrusters, manual motors are docked. Madam (Sunita Williams) was there for almost nine months and is now returning, and it is going to be a very exciting moment like any other citizen of this country. I am happy and as a space scientist, I am confident that she will be returning safely,” he said.

The duo, who had initially planned to stay at the ISS for eight days, have been stuck in space for nine months after technical issues developed on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

During their approach to the ISS, five of the 28 thrusters of the Starliner spacecraft carrying Williams and Wilmore failed, which extended their trip from days to months in space. Their extended delay fuelled health concerns as pictures showed Williams undergoing a drastic weight loss.

They were set to return to the Earth on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon capsule, which was scheduled to arrive in February 2025. However, NASA said on Tuesday that Crew-10, which would relieve Crew-9 and the stranded pair, would now launch no earlier than March 2025, and both teams would remain on board for a “handover period”.

Earlier today, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the Space Station, delivering the replacements for NASA’s two stuck astronauts.

The four newcomers — representing the US, Japan and Russia — will spend some time learning the station’s ins and outs from Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Residents of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams’ ancestral village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district are gearing up for Diwali-like festivities on Wednesday morning to celebrate her scheduled return to Earth after a nine-month stay at the Space Station.

Williams has been in the thoughts and prayers of the villagers, eagerly awaiting her safe return.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the Space Station early on Tuesday morning in a SpaceX capsule for a long-awaited trip back to Earth, nine months after their faulty Boeing Starliner craft upended what was to be a roughly week-long test mission.

Wilmore and Williams, two veteran NASA astronauts and retired U.S. Navy test pilots, strapped inside their Crew Dragon spacecraft along with two other astronauts and undocked from the orbiting laboratory at 1.05 a.m. ET (0505 GMT), embarking on a 17-hour trip to Earth.