Two NASA astronauts, who had to spend only 8 days in orbit but remained there for almost 10 months, finally returning to the ground.
The SpaceX CRW Dragon Space ship successfully delivered a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts will replace the current crew that already completes its mission. Among them are Nick Gayg, Alexander Gorbunov, as well as Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who spent much longer than planned in orbit.
Initially, Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS on board Starliner from Boeing in June 2024. It should have been a new ship's test flight, but it faced technical problems, which was why the crew was delayed. In September, NASA decided to return the Starliner to the ground without a crew, and astronauts remained at the station. Astronauts will return to Earth on board Crew Dragon Mission Crew-9 not earlier than March 19. This was made possible after the CREW-10 mission arrived, which brought new crew members to the station.
Thus, NASA and SpaceX successfully organized a crew rotation and solved the situation with astronauts who "stuck" in orbit due to the technical problems of Starliner.
