The rescue operation to bring back American astronauts Sunita Williams and Bull Wilmore, stranded in the International Space Station since June 8, began on Saturday. NASA and billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s company SpaceX have together sent a spacecraft into space. A small team of two passengers has been sent to bring both of them back to earth, but this expedition will be completed only by February next year. This mission has been named NASA SpaceX Crew 9.
Sunita Williams and Bull Wilmore flew away from Earth in a spacecraft for eight days, but they have not yet returned. Despite all the efforts of NASA, their return is not possible yet. Due to a technical fault in the SpaceX vehicle on which both the passengers flew, their return is not yet safe. In such a situation, NASA started the rescue operation last Saturday. The spacecraft was launched on September 28. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov are on board this plane.
Since NASA changes space station crews approximately every six months, this new flight has two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams and will return in late February. “Congratulations to NASA and SpaceX on the successful launch,” NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a post on Twitter.
When Nick Hague and Gorbunov return from the space station in February, they will be bringing Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams with them. Sunita Williams and Wilmore’s stay on the ISS has been prolonged for months due to problems with the Starliner spacecraft.
