Space capsule docks as astronauts prepare return after nine months
A SpaceX capsule carrying a new crew has docked at the International Space Station (ISS), paving the way for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to come home.
The pair were due to be on the ISS for only eight days, but because of technical issues with the experimental spacecraft they arrived on, they have been there for more than nine months.
The astronauts are due to begin their journey back to Earth later this week. Steve Stich, manager of Nasa's commercial crew programme said he was delighted at the prospect.
"Butch and Suni have done a great job and we are excited to bring them back," he said.
Weather permitting
There will be a two-day handover after which the old crew are due to begin their journey back to Earth. But there could be a small further delay, as they wait for conditions on Earth to be right for a safe re-entry of the returning capsule, according to Dana Weigel, manager, of the ISS programme.
"Weather always has to cooperate, so we'll take our time over that if it is not favourable," she told reporters.
The astronauts have consistently said that they have been happy to be on board the space station, with Suni Williams describing it as her "happy place". But Dr Simeon Barber, of the Open University, told BBC News that there would likely have been a personal cost.
"When you are sent on a work trip that is supposed to last a week, you are not expecting it to take the best part of a year," he said.
"This extended stay in space will have disrupted family life, things will have happened back home that they will have missed out on, so there will have been a period of upheaval."
Butch and Suni arrived at the ISS at the beginning of June 2024 to test an experimental spacecraft called Starliner, which was built by the aerospace firm Boeing, a rival to SpaceX.
The pair were due to be on the ISS for only eight days, but because of technical issues with the experimental spacecraft they arrived on, they have been there for more than nine months.
The astronauts are due to begin their journey back to Earth later this week. Steve Stich, manager of Nasa's commercial crew programme said he was delighted at the prospect.
"Butch and Suni have done a great job and we are excited to bring them back," he said.
Weather permitting
There will be a two-day handover after which the old crew are due to begin their journey back to Earth. But there could be a small further delay, as they wait for conditions on Earth to be right for a safe re-entry of the returning capsule, according to Dana Weigel, manager, of the ISS programme.
"Weather always has to cooperate, so we'll take our time over that if it is not favourable," she told reporters.
The astronauts have consistently said that they have been happy to be on board the space station, with Suni Williams describing it as her "happy place". But Dr Simeon Barber, of the Open University, told BBC News that there would likely have been a personal cost.
"When you are sent on a work trip that is supposed to last a week, you are not expecting it to take the best part of a year," he said.
"This extended stay in space will have disrupted family life, things will have happened back home that they will have missed out on, so there will have been a period of upheaval."
Butch and Suni arrived at the ISS at the beginning of June 2024 to test an experimental spacecraft called Starliner, which was built by the aerospace firm Boeing, a rival to SpaceX.
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