New Delhi: A Space X spacecraft was successfully launched on Saturday to bring back NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who are stranded in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The Crew-9 mission that lifted off using Falcon-9 rocket has two astronauts aboard, with two seats left vacant for Williams and Wilmore.
Williams, whose father Deepak Pandya was an Indian-American neuroanatomist from Gujarat, and Wilmore travelled to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner on a one-week mission in June. They reached the ISS safely, but the Starliner developed helium leaks and issues with its thrusters.
Boeing was given time to make repairs, but NASA decided it would be risky to use the Starliner to bring back the astronauts. However, the Starliner landed safely at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on September 7.
NASA thereafter decided to use a SpaceX capsule, that has performed several successful missions ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS, to bring back Williams and Wilmore.
However, the Crew-9 mission will be able to bring back the astronauts only in the first half of 2025.