The Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft successfully returned four astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) 18 March, completing the Crew-9 mission. The landing took place in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Florida 21:57 UTC after undocking with the station o 17:05 UTC.
The crew and the progress of the mission:
- They returned as part of the crew:
Nick heigi (NASA) - mission commander.
Alexander Gorbunov (Roscosmos) - Crew-9 pilot.
Suni Williams (NASA) and Butch Wilmore (NASA) – astronauts, who have been at the station since June 2024 year as part of the CST-100 Starliner test flight from Boeing.
- Features of the mission:
Williams and Wilmore were to spend at the station only 8 days, but due to problems with the Starliner engines, NASA decided to return them to Earth on Crew Dragon.
NASA replaced two astronauts, who were to fly in Crew-9 (Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson), to make room for Williams and Wilmore.
Shortened process of transferring cases to the ISS:
- Crew-9 returned to Earth less than a 48 hours after the arrival of their successors on Crew-10.
- NASA has reduced the time of transfer of cases, because the weather conditions were expected to worsen, which could make it difficult to return. However, NASA noted, that shortened transmissions between crews will not become the norm.
- As Bill Spech explained, ISS operations manager, this regime limits the possibility of detailed transfer of procedures and accumulated experience, which can affect the effectiveness of the new team.
The political context of the return of the crew:
The return of Williams and Wilmore has become the subject of political speculation. Some media and politicians claimed, that NASA “left” astronauts in space, although the agency has repeatedly denied these statements. Elon Musk said, that President Donald Trump asked him to arrange for the quick return of the astronauts. Trump claimed, that NASA initially refused to return the crew, but after his intervention the situation changed. NASA has officially announced, that the return plans were approved long before these political discussions.
NASA denies the influence of political interference:
Steve Stitch, head of the Commercial Crew program, explained, that the return of Crew-9 depended only on the readiness of the next ship, Crew-10, which was supposed to start in February, but due to technical problems with the new capsule, NASA changed the ship, which made it possible to postpone the launch to March. There were no other options to speed up the mission, as the only ready Crew Dragon (Endurance) started as soon as possible. Joel Montalbano, NASA's Deputy Chief of Manned Missions, noted, that NASA works with any administration, considering all requests, but makes decisions based on safety and technical readiness, and not political pressure.
Source: https://spacenews.com/crew-9-returns-from-space-station/