NASA Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore ready for Boeing Starliner's return: What we know so far

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are preparing for the return of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth today. They have closed the spacecraft's hatch, and it is set to undock from the ISS at 3:30 AM IST on Saturday. The Starliner is expected to land in New Mexico approximately six hours later.

According to an official NASA blog post, “NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have completed packing the Starliner with cargo and preparing the cabin for its return.They closed the Starliner's hatch for the final time on Thursday afternoon, getting the spacecraft ready for its uncrewed departure.”

The spacecraft will return to Earth on its own, using an autonomous system for the journey back.

You can watch the Starliner’s departure from the ISS live on NASA+, the NASA app, NASA’s YouTube channel, or their official website. The livestream is also available via the embedded link below.

NASA Flight Director Ed Van Cise shared on X that the team, along with Butch and Sunita, completed setting up the return cargo in Calypso this morning. This afternoon, they will do a final cabin check and close the hatches between the spacecraft and the Space Station. Everything is on track for undocking and landing tomorrow evening.

While the astronauts are in space, they’ve been studying things like how hearts and lungs work in microgravity, growing plants in space, fire safety, and observing Earth. The information they’ve gathered will help improve human health both on Earth and in space, and support advancements in Earth and space industries.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to Earth in February next year using a new SpaceX spacecraft. This change is because of recent problems with the Boeing Starliner, such as thruster failures and helium leaks, which made it unsafe for their return.