Sunita Williams to return to Earth on March 18, NASA shares splashdown time

US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who are stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) for over nine months, will return to Earth on Tuesday (March 17), NASA said on Sunday.

Williams and Wilmore will be transported back to Earth in SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft, the US space agency said and announced the anticipated time for ocean splashdown off the Florida coast.

Also read: Sunita Williams sets record for spacewalk time by a woman

According to NASA, the splashdown time is 5:57 pm Tuesday (March 18), Washington time, (3:27 am IST, March 19, Wednesday).

NASA said it would provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the ISS, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17 (8:30 am IST on March 18).

On Sunday, NASA and SpaceX met to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for the return of the agency’s Crew-9 mission from the ISS.

“Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favourable conditions forecasted for the evening of Tuesday, March 18. The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favourable weather conditions expected for later in the week,” NASA said in a statement.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Williams, and Wilmore, as well as Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are completing a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return time-sensitive research to Earth.

Mission managers will continue monitoring weather conditions in the area, as Dragon’s undocking depends on various factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA and SpaceX will confirm the specific splashdown location closer to the Crew-9 return, the space agency said.