NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are preparing to return to Earth after spending 281 days on the International Space Station, potentially ranking them 6th among NASA astronauts for longest duration in space. They discuss the experiments they conducted on the ISS to aid in future space travel. The two were meant to return after a week but ended up spending over nine months due to the Starliner spacecraft issues. If all goes according to plan, they will be boarding a SpaceX Dragon capsule with the Crew-9 mission team for a water landing in Florida. This long-duration mission is not common, with only a few astronauts surpassing 200 days in space. Other NASA astronauts with longer missions include Peggy Whitson, Scott Kelly, and Christina Koch, who have spent over 300 days in orbit. The unexpected extension of Williams and Wilmore’s mission mirrors the experience of Frank Rubio, who spent 371 days in space due to a spacecraft malfunction. The International Space Station typically hosts crews for six months, but Williams and Wilmore’s extended stay is a rarity. The Starliner astronauts must wait for the arrival of Crew-10 before returning to Earth, with their departure potentially scheduled for March 19.
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