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Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams set off on what they thought was going to be an eight-day mission onboard the International Space Station (ISS), but that taster of space – almost 300 days ago – turned into life lived orbiting Earth.
It was due to the Boeing Starliner they made their commute on experiencing a series of problems – including five helium leaks, five maneuvering thrusters dying, and a propellant valve failing to close completely.
They were launched into space on June 5, 2024, meaning they’ve not felt earth under their feet for 285 days – 286 days when they finally make it back.
Now, an update from the space agency read: “At 1:05 a.m. EDT Tuesday, NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov undocked from the space-facing port of International Space Station’s Harmony module aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.”
An early message detailed how they will crash back down to Earth off the coast of Florida.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore took part in dozens of Q&As during their time orbiting Earth (NASA)
“The spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory about 1:05 a.m. on Tuesday, heading for a targeted splashdown at 5:57 p.m. off the coast of Florida,” NASA wrote.
The ISS orbits Earth 16 times over the course of 24 hours. They departed Earth on June 5 and boarded their return ship shortly after 11pm on March 17 – 285 days in total. Meaning, they’ve circled our planet roughly 4,560 times.
Meanwhile, they would encounter 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of 24 hours – so they again, they would have experienced around 4,560 sunrises and the same number of sunsets.
Father-of-two Wilmore will finally reunite with his children, while Williams will want to see her own family.
The pair managed to keep busy while floating around the ISS, having both been tasked with jobs during their time up there, while space-walks have also been common – but they’ll certainly be happy to return to Earth when they emerge from the SpaceX capsule.
Wilmore and Williams pictured before they left Earth in June last year – they’ll be getting plenty of flowers on their return (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Daryn Wilmore, the astronaut’s 16-year-old daughter, has blamed ‘negligence’ and ‘a lot of politics’ for the reason as to why her dad is still up in space.
Originally speaking in a post last month, Daryn said: “He’s missed out on a lot. It’s less the fact that he’s up there sometimes; it’s more the fact of why.
“There’s a lot of politics, there’s a lot of things that I’m not at liberty say in that I don’t know fully about. But there’s been issues, there’s been negligence. It’s just been issue after issue after issue.”
While Daryn hasn’t seen her father for the best part of nine months, she speaks to her astronaut dad daily and is looking forward to seeing him in person, if all goes to plan.
