SpaceX Dragon heads home: Extended mission ends at ISS
On Sunday, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrived at the International Space Station (ISS). On Wednesday, it will embark on its return journey to Earth with two American astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Their stay in space was extended to nine months from the originally planned few days due to technical issues.
The capsule docked with the ISS 29 hours after its launch, which took place on Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Crew Dragon crew includes American astronauts Anne McClain, serving as commander, Nichole Ayers, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi.
Crew Dragon is scheduled to begin its return to Earth on Wednesday.
Problems with the Starliner capsule
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore reached the ISS nine months ago using Boeing's Starliner capsule. Unfortunately, issues with the Starliner's propulsion system during the flight forced them to extend their stay on the station, which was originally supposed to last eight days.
NASA determined that returning to Earth in a vehicle that returned empty in September would be too risky.
Problems with the return of astronauts. Trump accuses
Reuters points out the political aspect of the mission. President Donald Trump and his advisor Elon Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX, accuse that former President Joe Biden left astronauts on the station for political reasons.
"We came prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short," Reuters quotes Wilmore. The astronaut does not believe that NASA's decision was politically motivated.
