Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are one step closer to making it home, with their nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station finally coming to an end.

Although the pair of NASA astronauts were only supposed to be in space for eight days, issues with their Boeing Starliner meant they were marooned on the ISS until a relief crew could come and take over their duties.

The pair have become a media sensation, with President Donald Trump telling Elon Musk to go get them, while the tech billionaire then accused the Biden administration of ‘abandoning’ them for political reasons.

NASA fast-tracked their rescue, and just when it looked like things were going smoothly, a March 12 mission was called off at the last minute. A subsequent flight was canceled due to adverse weather conditions, but making it third time lucky, SpaceX’s Crew-10 finally blasted off. Around 29 hours later, the craft docked with the ISS, and there were emotional scenes as Williams and Wilmore finally realized they were going home.

There were happy scenes as Crew-10 joined the ISS (NASA)

At 12:04 a.m. EDT on March 16, commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov docked and then entered the ISS’ orbital lab.

Onishi was the first through the hatch, followed by Peskov, Ayers, and then McClain. It was all smiles as the Crew-10 crew settled into their new digs, allowing Williams, Wilmore, and Crew-9 astronauts Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov to soon head home.

In a live video beamed from the ISS, McClain said: “Hi everybody down there on Earth. Crew-10 has had a great journey up here, about 28 hours to get back up to the space station. And I cannot tell you the immense joy of our crew when we looked out the window and saw the space station for the first time.

“You can hardly even put it into words, orbiting the Earth for the last couple of days, it has been absolutely incredible.”

Crew-10 is scheduled to remain on the ISS for the next six months.

Williams gave a short but sweet response to the arrival, saying: “Houston, thanks for tuning in this early morning, it was a wonderful day, great to see our friends arrive, so thank you so much.”

People in the comments were equally touched, with one person writing: “What an amazing time to be alive. Thank you SpaceX and all communities involved!.”

Another added: “Gravity or no gravity, hugging another person remains the most priceless gesture.”

A third concluded: “Tears of joy, watching them embrace!”

With a few days of handover, Williams and Wilmore are set to depart the ISS on Wednesday (March 19) and have a quick hop back to Earth where they’ll be rushed off on a stretcher and quickly put into a ‘brutal’ regime of recovery.

If all goes as plan, the pair of marooned astronauts will have been in space for a jaw-dropping 286 days. We’d like to say they’ll be paid handsomely for their extra time in the stars, but unfortunately, they won’t.

The end is finally in sight.

The Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:04 p.m. EDT on Friday (14 March), marking the long-awaited rescue mission for NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams.

Onboard the Dragon capsule are Crew-10’s four astronauts: NASA’s Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, Roscosmos astronaut Kirill Peskov, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Takuya Onishi.

Following a couple of days handover, Williams and Wilmore are due back on Earth after an unexpectedly long mission.

The Falcon 9 blasted off on Friday. NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty

SpaceX had originally planned to launch the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft in February before being pushed back until March.

Both missions were aborted last minute due to technical issues with the rocket’s clamp arm and hydraulics of the launch tower, respectively.

However, third time lucky, everything went as planned as many watched the Falcon 9 blast off on Friday.

Wilmore and Williams are to be transported home with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, which arrived at the ISS early on Sunday.

Now that Wilmore and Williams are finally heading home, you might be wondering – how much did this mission actually cost?

Getting to orbit has become more cost-efficient over the years, thanks to reusable rockets and advancements in spaceflight technology. However, when human passengers are involved, things get considerably more expensive.

Turns out, according to Wikipedia, standard Falcon 9 launch costs around $69.75 million as of 2024.

Williams and Wilmore have been stranded on the ISS for over nine months. MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO / Contributor / Getty

But when you add the Crew Dragon capsule, which is necessary for carrying astronauts, the cost jumps to approximately $140 million per launch.

Why’s that?

Well, the Crew Dragon capsule increases the total mass of the rocket, meaning there is less room for cargo. The spacecraft is also packed with extra safety systems, life support and human-rated components, which drive up costs.

The Falcon 9 is capable of carrying a little over 13,000 pounds when human passengers are onboard.

To put it into perspective, the cost per pound for a crewed launch is about $10,000.

The cost of launching a rocket isn’t cheap – and probably never will be.

But with the combined efforts of private and public space explorers, launches have become more cost-effective.

For example, Elon Musk’s space company has made multiple missions possible with the same hardware by exploring reusable rockets.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has developed two reusable rocket systems: the New Shepard for suborbital flights and the New Glenn for orbital missions, both designed for vertical take-off and landing.

While we don’t want to say Suni Williams and Buch Wilmore are ‘cursed’, it sometimes feels like some higher power doesn’t want the pair to leave the cold abyss of space.

The astronauts blasted off from Cape Canaveral in June 2024 aboard the Boeing Crew Flight Test, and while that mission had faced numerous delays of its own, Williams and Wilmore finally docked with the ISS on June 6.

Unfortunately for them, the planned eight-day mission has turned into an extended stay of 281 days on the ISS…with a few more still to go.

Although Williams insists they aren’t ‘stranded’, the tale of two ‘stranded’ astronauts has been grabbing headlines ever since, with President Donald Trump even telling Elon Musk to go get them. Alongside wild theories that they’ve forged a romance up in the stars, there are complaints that they’ve been used as political pawns, and NASA has explained why they weren’t rescued earlier. Still, Williams and Wilmore likely don’t know about the media storm they sit at the center of.

The Crew-10 astronauts are expected to replace Williams and Wilmore on the ISS (SpaceX)

SpaceX had originally planned to launch the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft on March 12, with the Crew-10 team replacing Williams, Wilmore, and fellow ISS crew members Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Following a couple of days handover, Williams and Wilmore were finally due back on Earth on SpaceX has now confirmed the next attempt will happen “no earlier than Friday”, meaning today March 16, but with the SpaceX mission pulling the plug less than an hour before blastoff, the whole schedule has been shunted back a few days.

(March 14) is one to keep an eye on.

The latest post suggests things are still on track for a March 14 launch, and with a two-day delay, it means Williams and Wilmore could be returning home on March 18.

With the eyes of the world on NASA and SpaceX, a landing page for the launch explains: “Launch is targeted for 7:03 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Saturday, March 15 at 6:41 p.m. ET”

A live webcast will start 80 minutes before liftoff, with audiences able to watch from the site, using the new X TV app, or via the @SpaceX account on X.

NASA confirmed that the March 12 launch was delayed due to a hydraulic system issue involving a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket, which was then followed by adverse weather conditions scuppering a potential March 13 launch.

When they eventually return home, Williams and Wilmore are expected to be rushed off on stretchers and put into a ‘brutal’ rehab regime, although we’re sure they’ll be glad to be back.

Here’s hoping it’s third time lucky with the Crew-10 launch, and even though all of this is subject to change, we’re one step closer to Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore’s long-awaited return to Earth.

An ‘alien’ was spotted onboard the International Space Station (ISS) as the SpaceX crew docked to rescue NASA astronauts.

After nine months in space, NASA astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore were finally set to head home.

But their send-off got a little unexpectedly extraterrestrial.

Williams and Wilmore were only supposed to spend eight days on the satellite when they arrived in June 2024.

However, safety concerns grounded their Boeing Starliner spacecraft and it returned to Earth without them – leaving the pair stuck in orbit much longer than expected. Their ride home finally arrived early Sunday morning, as a SpaceX Dragon capsule docked at the ISS.

On Friday, Falcon 9 launched with Crew-10 to replace the stranded astronauts. NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty

Many watched as the Falcon 9 blasted off on Friday – one that saw multiple delays.

Along with bringing Wilmore and Williams back, the capsule delivered four new astronauts to replace them including NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov.

When the new crew arrived and the hatch opened, they got a fitting surprise – an alien.

Okay, so it wasn’t a real alien. But it still looked pretty cool!

Fellow astronaut Nick Hague greeted the rescue crew by floating around wearing an alien mask.

It was smiles all round as the rescue Crew-10 arrived to replace the stranded astronauts. “It was a wonderful day,” Williams told Mission Control at NASA’s Kennedy Space Station after their arrival. “Great to see our friends arrive.”

Though their replacements have arrived, Williams and Wilmore won’t be leaving just yet. They will spend a few more days on the ISS teaching the replacement crew the ongoing experiments and maintenance schedule before departing aboard the same Dragon capsule.

NASA

Whilst they have made the most of their extended stay and spent the holidays together, they’re expected to face some challenges upon their return.

Williams previously addressed that she’s relearning ‘how to walk.’ It’s likely they have developed a skin condition known as ‘baby feet’ that can occur after months without walking, turning their feet soft.

The return to gravity can make standing and walking painful until their feet toughen up again.

Initially, NASA planned to bring them home two weeks later, but their return was moved up after President Donald Trump ordered close ally Elon Musk to go ahead.

“I have just asked Elon Musk and SpaceX to “go get” the two brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned by the Biden administration,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform last month.

“Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”

Meanwhile, NASA has faced significant budget cuts under Trump’s administration, leading to the shutdown of two departments and the office of its chief scientist.