At home: After an unexpected nine -month stay in space, a pair of astronauts of NASA finally returned to Earth on Tuesday, concluding a mission that attracted global attention and became a political flashpoint.
A spacex crew dragon spaceship carrying Buch Wilmor and Sunita Williams – with partner American Nick Heg and Russian Cosmonot Alexandra Gorbunov – was ranked through the environment before deploying parachutes for a gentle splashdown on the Florida coast at 5:57 pm (2157 GMT) at 5:57 pm (2157 GMT).
Ground teams exploded as a gum -shaped spacecraft in cheers, named freedom, which is ready to understand the scorching temperature of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 ° C) during re -entry, grows rapidly on waves under a clear, sunny sky.
“What a ride – I see a capsule full of grins,” said Hague.
As the rapid boats ran into the capsule for initial security check – an unexpected escort arrived as a playful pod of dolphin.
Soon after, a large recovery vessel rode on independence. The teams opened the hatch, and one by one, the astronauts were helped on the indications of the dynamics AIDS, waving, and shining thumbs.
Next, they will be flew to Houston by helicopter, where they will meet their families in a day or two, and start a physical rehabilitation program.
The White House posted on X, “Promised, promised,” Reiterated a controversial claim that President Donald Trump’s administration intensified the recovery timeline.
‘Incredible flexibility’
The quartet left the International Space Station in the early hours of Sunday, started his 17 -hour journey house after a final farewell and hugged the rest of the crew.
Buch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, both East-Navi Pilot and two former space missions, flew to the Orbital Lab in June last year, which Boeing’s Starelineer was considered a day-long roundtrip for a day to test on his first crew flight.
However, the issues of propulsion unfit for their return, forcing it to return empty.
He was later convinced to NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which came with a low crew of two in the ISS last September-to accommodate the common four kodi, which were widely referred to as “trapped” astronauts.
With Crew -10 Docking Sunday, crew -9 was finally approved to depart. Wilmore and Williams have a 286-day stay over the six-month ISS rotation, but ranked sixth in the US record. Frank Rubio held the longest singles-mission in 371 days, while Russian Cosmonote Valerie Polycov retains the world record in 437 days.
Despite the challenges of the long-term spacecraft-experts, including milestones and bone losses, vision issues, and balance, say their nine-month migration is manageable in terms of health risks.
However, the unexpected nature of his extended missions, initially provoked public sympathy, without adequate supply.
“If you came to know that you had gone to work today and were going to get caught in your office for the next nine months, then you could be an attack of a terror,” Joseph Kieel, a psychologist at Embri-Ridel Aeronautical University, told AFP.
“These individuals have shown incredible flexibility.”
Political flashpoint
It also became a political electric rod with President Trump and his close advisor, Elon Musk – which leads SpaceX – repeatedly suggests that the former President Joe Biden left astronauts and refused the earlier rescue plan.
Such allegations have inspired an outrage in the space community, especially Musk not offered any special offer, and the fundamental NASA plan for the return of astronauts has been unchanged since his crew -9 revaluation.
NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stitch confirmed during a post-mission press conference that there was no discussion about deploying a relief team soon-and the most recent scheduling delays were due to SpaceX’s own schedueling adjustment.
Trump has also attracted attention to his bizarre comments, referring to Williams, which holds the US record for the second longest cumulative time in space, “The Woman with Wild Hair” and speculation about individual dynamic between the two.
During the recent White House press conference, he said, “They have been left there -I hope they like each other, perhaps they love each other, I don’t know.”
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