After 287 days in space, NASA officially announced: Two astronauts will return to Earth on March 19

The two astronauts Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams who have been stranded on the International Space Station for a long time finally saw the last light!NASA announced that Wilmore and Williams' planned return to Earth is "scheduled" (ironic, right) by about two weeks. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will take them home is expected to take off from Earth on March 12 and return home on March 19.

In this case, the two people will spend a long time of 287 days in space, which is 9 and a half months, while the original plan was only 8 days.

It is worth mentioning that while in space, Williams set a record for non-consecutive spacewalks by a female astronaut, although this was not planned.

The wind is rustling and the water is cold

The mission, named "Crew-10", originally planned to use a brand-new Manned Dragon spacecraft, but there was a problem with the battery and the launch had to be postponed. It is not expected to set off to the International Space Station until the end of April.

If this is the case, the two astronauts will have to stay in space for a longer period of time, which will inevitably create more variables.

final,NASA decided to switch the Crew-10 mission to a Dragon spacecraft that had already performed the mission, and launched it on March 12, sending four astronauts from the United States, Japan, and Russia into space.

After the mission handover is completed, the spacecraft will return to Earth with Wilmore, Williams, and the other two astronauts from the Crew-9 mission crew.

Previously, when the Crew-9 mission spacecraft was launched, it only carried astronauts, leaving the other two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams.

Currently, NASA and SpaceX are inspecting, evaluating, renovating and preparing for launch of the Dragon spacecraft.

On June 5, 2024, Wilmore and Williams boarded Boeing's "Starliner" spacecraft and headed to the International Space Station for a planned one-week space mission.

However, the Boeing spacecraft was leaking air everywhere, and the propeller failure and helium leak could not be solved for a long time. In the end, the ship had to return empty, and there is still no cure.

Given that the two astronauts' unplanned time in space was too long, widespread concerns were raised about their health, and some even speculated that the first death in space might occur.