NASA confirms the return date of the astronaut, Sunita Williams says “come back for a long time”, please watch the video | World News
With expectations for the return of two US astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months, NASA confirmed on Sunday that they will return to Earth on Tuesday night (GMT).
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will return on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and will be accompanied by another American astronaut and Russian astronaut after a successful dock at the International Space Station in the early hours of Sunday.
Elon Musk recently shared a video about NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, thanking former U.S. President Donald Trump for helping them return after nine months in space.
On Monday, Musk posted a clip on social media platform X, captioning it: “The stranded NASA astronauts thank Elon Musk and Trump.”
In the 25-second video, Williams can be heard saying, “We are back soon, so don’t make plans without my plan. We will be back soon.” Wilmore also praised, saying, “We all show the greatest respect for Mr. Musk and obviously pay tribute and admire President Donald Trump. We thank them, we thank them for everything they have done for us, the space scope of humanity, and we thank them for their position.”
pic.twitter.com/aakjrksu1q– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 16, 2025
Two astronauts initially conducted a 10-day International Space Station (ISS) mission on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5. However, due to propulsion issues, the spacecraft was deemed unsuitable for its return, making it on the International Space Station much longer than expected.
NASA has now confirmed that their returns are scheduled for Tuesday night. Williams and Wilmore will return to Earth in SpaceX Crew Dragon Capsules with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
.@nasa Will be covered by site coverage 9 on site coverage from @space_station,by @spacex Monday, March 17, Dragon Hatch closed for 10:45 PM ET.
Splashdown is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18 at 5:57 pm: https://t.co/yablg20tkx pic.twitter.com/alujsplshm— NASA Commercial Crew (@commercial_crew) March 16, 2025
SpaceX Crew Dragon Arrival ISS is part of NASA’s regular crew rotation mission. Crew 10 Dragon Capsules successfully docked at 12:04 a.m. Sunday and were launched at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for about 29 hours. While originally intended to fly as a standard rotation, the mission made Williams and Wilmore’s long-awaited return even more meaningful.
Former President Donald Trump had earlier talked about the long-term accommodation of the astronauts in his Oval Office speech and said, “We love you, we come to you. You shouldn’t be there for too long. The most incompetent president in our history made you happen, and it made you happen, but this president won’t let you meet.
Trump also commented on Sunita Williams in detail and commented on her gravity zero gravity. “And I saw that woman with wild hair – she had a nice, solid hair. No joke, no hair game with her. But, you know, there are dangers there too. They could face failure, and it would be really bad. We have to get them out.
Trump accused the last administration of delays, saying: “We have two people there Biden and Kamala stayed.” He further promised to personally welcome the astronauts back and said: “I will greet them when they come back. What about that?”
