NASA astronaut Sunita Williams becomes International Space Station Commander

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has now become the official International Space Station Commander Expedition 72. This comes after Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko hands over station command to Williams. She has been appointed as the Space Station commander again after 12 years and 7 days.

During the change of command ceremony, Williams stated, “Oleg, Expedition 71 has taught us all a great deal about flexibility and adaptability. Many things didn't go as planned, yet you and the team made it all work. It’s truly impressive. You adopted Butch and me into the family, even though that wasn’t originally part of the plan. But here we are. You welcomed Don, Alexei, and Yvonne with open arms, along with your Soyuz crew and Crew-8, making this a real family. We appreciate it.”

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko hands over station command to NASA astronaut Suni Williams at 10:15am ET on Sunday. Kononenko returns to Earth on Monday with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and cosmonaut Nikolai Chub. Watch here... https://t.co/mGhQ0R7u0t pic.twitter.com/mJM1txJLPs

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 21, 2024

Notably, Kononenko is set to return to Earth on September 23 with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and cosmonaut Nikolai Chub. Williams said her goodbyes to the three crew members, she said, “Oleg, we’ll miss your countless stories around the dinner table. But, after over 1,000 days in space, I guess you’ve earned those stories. Ko, we’ll miss your precision and professionalism. Signing up for your rookie flight to last over a year in space is no small feat. And Tracy, we’ll miss your organisation and your ability to bring order to chaos, even in the craziest of times. Thank you to all three of you for everything.”

Sunita Williams return

Williams is set to return back to Earth in February 2025. The rescue mission is already in motion as the SpaceX Crew-9 is set to launch for International Space Station in SpaceX Crew Dragon on September 26 at 11.30 PM IST from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The crew for this space flight will include NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist.

A huge welcome to @NASAKennedy, #Crew9!@NASA_Astronauts Nick Hague, commander, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, mission specialist, arrived at the Launch and Landing Facility Sept. 21 ahead of launch to @Space_Station at 2:05pm ET Sept. 26: https://t.co/Tsgw7rg50V pic.twitter.com/4Wf5euhtPf

— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) September 21, 2024

The two astronauts have already arrived at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. According to NASA, “Hague and Gorbunov will quarantine at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy. While there, they’ll conduct a dry dress rehearsal of the mission, sleep shift to align their resting and waking periods with mission requirements, rehearse flight procedures, as well as make calls to family and friends.”

The crew is set to spend 5 months in space and will conduct more than 200 science and research demonstrations before making their way back to Earth with Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. For the unversed, NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, arriving at the space station on June 6. However, had to extend their stay due to faulty Starliner.