Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore welcome their newly arrived replacements to the space station (Pic credit score: Nasa)

A SpaceX crew capsule efficiently docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, delivering a brand new workforce of astronauts to change Nasa’s two stranded crew members; Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who’ve been caught in orbit for over 9 months.
The 4 new arrivals, representing the United States, Japan, and Russia, will spend the subsequent few days studying the station’s ins and outs beneath the steerage of Wilmore and Williams.

Stranded for 9 months
Wilmore and Williams initially launched aboard Boeing’s first astronaut flight, anticipating a short weeklong keep. However, their Boeing Starliner capsule developed a number of technical points, forcing Nasa to abandon the plan for it to return with the crew. Instead, the space company opted to carry the astronauts again on a SpaceX car.
A SpaceX capsule was dispatched in September with two crew members and two empty seats reserved for the stranded astronauts. But their return was delayed additional when their replacements’ newly constructed capsule required in depth battery repairs, prompting Nasa to swap to an older, pre-tested capsule.

Return scheduled for mid-March
With their replacements now onboard the ISS, Wilmore and Williams are set to return residence aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule alongside two different astronauts. If climate situations allow, the capsule is scheduled to undock no sooner than Wednesday, earlier than making a splashdown touchdown off Florida’s coast.