Astronauts Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore set to return from space on Elon Musk's SpaceX flight

Two NASA astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024, for a short-duration mission, are finally scheduled to return to Earth after nearly 10 months in space. Their prolonged stay was caused by technical issues with Starliner, which forced NASA to rethink their return strategy.

According to NASA’s latest schedule, the astronauts will depart the ISS on March 16, 2025, aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon following the arrival of the Crew-10 mission.

The Starliner capsule was originally meant to bring Wilmore and Williams back within 10 days of their arrival at the ISS. However, technical assessments led NASA to decide against using Starliner for their return, opting instead for an uncrewed return of the spacecraft in September 2024.

With Starliner out of the equation, NASA modified its crew rotation plan, reserving two seats on the Crew-9 return mission aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Initially planned for February 2025, the return was delayed further due to operational constraints, and is now confirmed for March 16, 2025.

Before Wilmore and Williams can depart, the Crew-10 mission must first arrive at the ISS. The launch is set for March 12, 2025, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying a four-person crew:

    •    Anne McClain (NASA) – Commander
    •    Nichole Ayers (NASA) – Pilot
    •    Takuya Onishi (JAXA) – Mission Specialist
    •    Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos) – Mission Specialist

Their arrival at the ISS will enable Crew-9, including Wilmore and Williams, to return to Earth, completing a mission that lasted far longer than originally planned.

NASA confirmed that Crew-10 will launch aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule “Endurance”, a flight-proven spacecraft that has been used in previous missions. Initially, NASA had considered using a newly manufactured spacecraft, but battery-related delays prompted the decision to switch to Endurance instead.

“Changes in vehicle assignments are a routine part of mission planning,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager, during a briefing.

While the Starliner program faces further scrutiny, NASA’s reliance on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon continues to grow, reinforcing the importance of proven flight hardware for future missions.

For Wilmore and Williams, their return on March 16 will finally bring an end to a record-breaking unintended mission extension. While the Boeing Starliner test flight was meant to demonstrate reliability, it instead highlighted significant challenges that NASA will need to address before committing Starliner to routine crewed missions.