They are on their way, says NASA as astronauts undocked from Space Station

AFTER being stranded for over nine months, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday (IST) and began their 17-hour journey back to Earth.

Wilmore, Williams and two other astronauts undocked from the ISS at 10:30 am on Tuesday, with their splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico expected at 3:30 am on Tuesday.

“They're on their way! #Crew9 undocked from the @Space_Station at 1:05 am ET (0505 UTC). Reentry and splashdown coverage begin on X, YouTube, and NASA+ at 4:45 pm ET (2145 UTC) this evening,” said NASA in a post on X.

The astronaut crew is scheduled to travel back to Earth alongside Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

“Dragon on orbit shortly after undocking from the Space Station,” wrote SpaceX on X.

As Nasa went live, Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were seen packing up and closing the hatches as Crew9 prepared to depart from the Space Station.

"It's been a privilege to call the Space Station home, to play my part in its 25-year legacy of doing research for humanity, and to work with colleagues, now friends, from around the globe. My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected," said Nick Hague.

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