THE WASHINGTON POST: Two astronauts stuck in space are on their way home. How it unfolded

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are “going home”.

The SpaceX Dragon shuttle fired off it’s first departure burn at about 4pm (AEST) and the stranded pair, plus colleagues Aleksandr Gorbunov and Nick Hague, were given the all-clear to remove their space suits until they re-enter orbit.

Williams and Wilmore left Earth last June and were expected to spend about eight days on the International Space Station. Technical issues have meant they were still there nine months later — but their time in space will soon be over.

After a SpaceX mission docked at the ISS on Sunday, NASA announced the astronauts could return to Earth and were due to splash down at 8am Wedensday (AEST). The specific location is yet to be confirmed but the pair are on their way back to Earth.

THE ASTRONAUTS

Ms Williams, 59, is a retired navy captain and helicopter pilot from Massachusetts; Mr Wilmore, 62, is a retired navy captain and fighter jet pilot from Tennessee. They set off into space aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5.

It was the first time humans had flown on board the spacecraft, which was developed as part of a $US4.2 billion ($6.6b) NASA contract with Boeing to fly astronauts to and from the space station. The two astronauts were expected to spend about eight days in space and test the capsule’s life support systems.

But the Starliner had suffered significant mechanical and computing problems since its first uncrewed test flight in 2019, including in the weeks before the launch.

WHAT HAPPENED

The two astronauts encountered multiple problems during their outward flight: Thrusters failed at a critical moment and there were helium leaks in the spacecraft’s propulsion system.

Their return to Earth was delayed for weeks as NASA and Boeing worked to understand the issues. In August, NASA decided that it would be too risky to use the same spacecraft for the return journey and charged Elon Musk’s SpaceX — which began flying astronauts for NASA in 2020 — with bringing them back to Earth.

RESCUE MISSION

SpaceX sent its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station in September as part of the Crew-9 mission. But instead of carrying four crew members, as would normally happen, the spacecraft had only two on board — leaving space for Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore to return at the end of the mission.

A launch carrying that crew’s replacement, Crew-10, successfully took place on Friday evening (Saturday AEST), after an earlier attempt was called off.

On Sunday, NASA said the Dragon docked with the ISS’s orbiting complex at 2pm (AEST).

Video from SpaceX showed the capsule inching closer before making contact with the ISS, which NASA said was about 420km above the Atlantic Ocean at the time.

About 90 minutes later, after the hatches between the capsule and the ISS were successfully opened, NASA said, the Dragon’s four crew members were welcomed aboard the ISS.

On Sunday, NASA and SpaceX officials moved up Crew-9’s scheduled return to Wednesday morning (AEST) from Wednesday night, based on an assessment of weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast.

NASA likes rotating crews to overlap on the space station for a few days so that the new astronauts can get up to speed on the station’s operations.

“The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties,” the space agency said.

Crew-9 boarded the Dragon capsule on Tuesday and the hatch was closed about 1.45pm (AEST). Dragon undocked from the orbiting laboratory at about 3pm, setting up a splashdown at 7.57am Wednesday.

“On behalf of crew I’d like to say it was a privilege to call space our home, to live and work and be part of a mission and a team that spans the globe working together in cooperating for the benefit of humanity,” mission commander Nick Hague said.

“We know the station is in great hands, we’re excited to see what you guys are going to accomplish and well be waiting for you. Crew 9 is going home.”

NASA said, however, that mission managers will continue monitoring the weather and health of the spacecraft before proceeding with the flight home..

POLITICAL STOUSH

The two astronauts’ time in space has become increasingly politicised.

Mr Musk, who in addition to being the CEO of SpaceX is one of US President Donald Trump’s top advisers, claimed that the company made an offer to return the astronauts last year, which he said the Biden administration rejected for political reasons. Mr Trump has made similar claims. But Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore, as well as NASA’s leadership, have said they were not aware of any such offer from SpaceX.

TIME IN SPACE

As they awaited their return to Earth, the pair have been kept busy by science experiments, daily chores on the space station and exercising for about an hour most days to fend off the many health hazards of space travel.

They are not the first astronauts to spend much longer in space than planned. Army helicopter pilot and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio was supposed to spend six months on the space station in 2022, but a leaking radiator meant he was there for over a year. He missed his son’s high school graduation and holidays. and other family milestones