Four astronauts return to Earth after Boeing capsule delays
- In Reports
- 05:42 PM, Oct 25, 2024
- Myind Staff
Four astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after spending nearly eight months on the space station. Their stay was extended due to issues with Boeing’s capsule and delays caused by Hurricane Milton. Midway through the week, a SpaceX capsule carrying the crew undocked from the ISS and parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico, right off the coast of Florida, before daybreak.
Three Americans and one Russian were supposed to return two months ago. However, their return was delayed due to issues with Boeing's new Starliner capsule, which came back empty in September over safety concerns. After that, Hurricane Milton caused further delays, and then two more weeks of strong winds and rough seas kept them from returning.
The four, including Russia's Alexander Grebenkin, NASA's Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, were launched by SpaceX in March. The lone space veteran entering the mission, Barratt, praised the support crews back home who had "to replan, retool, and kind of redo everything right along with us... and helped us roll with all those punches."
Two astronauts sent by SpaceX four weeks ago and two Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, whose own mission went from eight days to eight months, are replacing them. Up there, those four will stay until February. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, two Starliner test pilots whose own trip went from eight days to eight months, are taking their place, along with two astronauts despatched by SpaceX four weeks ago. Until February, those four will remain up there.
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