Stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s return to Earth moved up a day, says Nasa

Two trapped astronaut Sunita Williams and Buch Wilmor NASA, citing “favorable conditions”, said that he was ready to return to Earth on Tuesday evening a day earlier compared to the first reported schedule.
The space agency said in an official statement, “NASA and SpaceX met the International Space Station on Sunday to assess the weather and splashadown conditions on the coast of Florida for the return of the Crew -9 mission of the agency. The Mission Manager is targeting opportunities for earlier crew -9 returns on the basis of favorable conditions on Tuesday, 18 March.
A Spacex Crew Dragon The craft, which reached the ISS on Sunday, will be trapped in the space with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonot back home for more than nine months.
Williams and Wilmore have been on ISS since June, as their Boeing Starlineer spacecraft faced the problems of propulsion during their first crew test flight, making it unsuitable for their return journey.
On Sunday evening, NASA announced a revised time for astronauts’ Ocean splashadown Near the coast of Florida around 5.57 pm on Tuesday (2157 GMT), already already already already already already from the initial Wednesday schedule. NASA said in its statement, “The updated return target space station allows the crew members to complete the handover duties by providing operating flexibility before the low -favorable weather conditions.”
Dragon capsules will also take NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Rososmos cosmonot Alexandra Gorbunov. The live broadcast of Return Journey will begin on Monday evening with hatch closure preparations.
For Wilmore and Williams, it ends an unexpected nine -month stay, which is basically planned as a brief roundtrip mission. He first arrived with plans for a seven -day mission, using Boeing’s Starliner Ship at ISS in June 2024. However, including technical difficulties with Starline, its propulsion system and problems with helium leakage, NASA was forced to send the spacecraft back to Earth without a crew without crew. As a result, the duration of astronauts stay at the station became uncertain
His extended migration was more than a specific ISS rotation period of about six months. The unplanned expansion of his mission, which required additional supply of clothing and personal items, has drawn public attention and sympathy for his unplanned separation from the family.