NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams left the International Space Station (ISS) early this morning in Elon Musk’s “SpaceX Crew Dragon” capsule, beginning their return to Earth after a nine-month stay, which was “significantly longer than planned,” Reuters reported.

Their mission to the ISS, which was originally planned to last about a week, was extended due to technical problems with the “Boeing Starliner” spacecraft.

The astronauts are expected to land in the water off the coast of Florida later today, at 5:57 PM local time.

Wilmore and Williams went to the space station in June last year as the first crew of the “Boeing Starliner” spacecraft as part of an eight-day test mission.

However, problems with the spacecraft’s propulsion system led to months of delays, which prompted NASA to make the decision to return them to Earth using the “SpaceX” capsule as part of a regular crew rotation.

Upon landing, the astronauts will be transferred to the “Johnson” Space Center in Houston, where they will undergo medical examinations before being allowed to return to their families.

Experts explain that a long stay in space can have physical consequences, including muscle atrophy and possible vision problems.

Wilmore and Williams spent a total of 286 days in space, which is longer than the usual six months for missions to the ISS, but shorter than the American record of Frank Rubio, who spent 371 days in space due to a malfunction on a Russian spacecraft.

Williams will complete her third space mission with a total of 608 days in space, which is the second longest time among American astronauts, behind Peggy Whitson, who spent a total of 675 days in space.

NASA announced that Wilmore and Williams had to stay on the ISS until their replacement crew arrived to maintain the necessary number of American astronauts on the station.

The astronauts who will replace them, the four-member crew of the “Crew-10” mission, arrived on Friday evening, temporarily increasing the number of ISS crew members to 11.

The ISS, which orbits at an altitude of about 409 kilometers, has been operating for nearly 25 years as an international research laboratory and a key platform for space cooperation, primarily managed by the US and Russia.

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Source: B92, Foto: Printscreen X @NASA_Johnson

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