Will Astronaut Sunita Williams Return to Earth Soon? NASA Announces New Plan

Two Starliner astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore who have remained on the station for much longer than anticipated may be able to return a little sooner. The return is made possible because of the scheduling change made by NASA on Tuesday that replaced the astronaut capsule it intended to use for an upcoming routine voyage to the ISS.

Mission management teams chose to use the previously flown SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for the Crew-10 mission to the space station, according to the US space agency, rather than the new SpaceX capsule, whose production has been delayed.

Sunita Williams & Butch Willmore to Return

The launch date for Crew-10 has been moved from March 25 to March 12. NASA stated that the Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavor, which has already completed three missions, still requires a flight readiness check before launch.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who traveled to the International Space Station on Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule last summer, will return after the Crew-10 team arrives. This ensures that the American presence on the station remains stable.

Trump's Unexpected Intervention

Former President Donald Trump recently urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to bring the astronauts back “as soon as possible.” However, their return had already been planned last year.
After Trump’s request, NASA confirmed it would bring them back "as soon as practical," but in a statement on Tuesday, it did not directly link the Crew-10 change to an early return for the Starliner crew.

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NASA and SpaceX Response to Sunita Williams Return

Steve Stich, chief of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, praised SpaceX for its adaptability, saying, "Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges."
Trump’s involvement in the situation brought unexpected political attention to Wilmore and Williams. Although President Joe Biden was not involved in the mission, Trump blamed him for the astronauts’ situation. Musk supported Trump’s request and also blamed Biden, even though the issue was widely seen as Boeing’s fault.

Impact on Future Space Missions

The Crew-10 changes affect SpaceX’s upcoming Fram2 private astronaut mission, which was supposed to use the Endeavor capsule for a polar-orbiting trip this year.
Maltese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Chun Wang, the mission’s commander, reacted on social media with a disappointed emoji, saying, "We've lost the South Pole in the daylight." SpaceX will now use a different Crew Dragon capsule for the mission.

The decision may also impact Axiom Space’s planned Crew Dragon mission, which will transport astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary. Axiom, which coordinates both government and private astronaut missions, has not yet responded to the situation.