Kathmandu, March 19: American astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have safely returned to Earth after spending nine months and 14 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). They were accompanied by two other Crew-9 astronauts, Nick Hague from the United States and Alexander Gorbunov from Russia. Their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft landed off the coast of Florida at 3:42 a.m. Nepali time on March 19.

The four astronauts departed the ISS on March 18. During re-entry, the spacecraft endured extreme temperatures of up to 1,650 degrees Celsius, causing a communication blackout for about seven minutes. However, the spacecraft remained intact and successfully completed its descent.

The entire return journey took nearly 17 hours, from the time the Dragon capsule detached from the ISS to its splashdown in the ocean. At 8:50 a.m. on March 18, the hatch of the spacecraft was closed, officially marking their departure. The capsule then separated from the ISS at 10:50 a.m. The crucial deorbit burn maneuver, which slows down the spacecraft for re-entry, was executed at 2:56 a.m. on March 19, before the final landing at 3:42 a.m.

Williams and Wilmore originally embarked on an eight-day crewed test flight for Boeing and NASA to evaluate the Starliner spacecraft’s capability of carrying astronauts to and from the ISS. However, technical issues with the thrusters extended their mission by over nine months. During their extended stay, the astronauts contributed to scientific research and various experiments aboard the space station.