NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are on their way back to Earth after a nine-month overstay at the International Space Station (ISS).
Williams and Wilmore were supposed to be at the ISS for only eight days, but due to technical problems with their spaceship, they were stranded as NASA scrambled to get them home.
It was ultimately Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon that launched the rescue mission, which will also bring fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The Crew-9 capsule undocked from the ISS at 11:05 p.m. MT Monday and is expected to splash down off the coast of Florida at 3:57 p.m. MT Tuesday, weather depending.
“Mission managers will continue monitoring weather conditions,” said NASA in a statement.
“NASA and SpaceX will confirm the specific splashdown location closer to the Crew-9 return.”
The capsule will break through the earth’s atmosphere in a fiery re-entry at temperatures reaching 1600C with astronauts facing G-force four times stronger than on earth.
The Dragon capsule has four parachutes which will open ahead of its fall into the ocean.
Wilmore ahead of their departure from the ISS said they were prepared for anything when they went to space, and have been able to carry out experiments and research they would not have had time to do on a shorter mission.
“We came up prepared to stay long, even though we plan to stay short,” he said, per the BBC.
“That's what we do in human space flight. That's what your nation's human space flight program is all about.”
Williams agreed that they made the most of it while stranded at the space station.
"I think just the fact that we're living up here, in this very unique place, gives you an amazing perspective," she said.
"I don't want to lose that spark of inspiration when I leave, so I'm going to have to bottle it somehow."
