{"id":90579,"date":"2025-03-18T08:26:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T12:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=90579"},"modified":"2025-03-18T08:26:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T12:26:01","slug":"nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA&#8217;s stuck astronauts are finally on their way back to Earth after 9 months in space"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Marcia Dunn CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) \u2014 NASA\u2019s two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station \u2014 their home since last spring \u2014 departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts. The capsule undocked in the wee hours and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast by early evening, weather permitting. The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing\u2019s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5. So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F03%2F18%2Fnasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Marcia Dunn CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) \u2014 NASA\u2019s two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station \u2014 their home since last spring \u2014 departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts. The capsule undocked in the wee hours and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast by early evening, weather permitting. The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing\u2019s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5. So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F03%2F18%2Fnasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NASA&#039;s stuck astronauts are finally on their way back to Earth after 9 months in space - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NASA&#039;s stuck astronauts are finally on their way back to Earth after 9 months in space - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Marcia Dunn CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) \u2014 NASA\u2019s two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams bid farewell to the International Space Station \u2014 their home since last spring \u2014 departing aboard a SpaceX capsule alongside two other astronauts. The capsule undocked in the wee hours and aimed for a splashdown off the Florida coast by early evening, weather permitting. The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing\u2019s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5. So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/18\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-18T12:26:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/18\\\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/18\\\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"NASA&#8217;s stuck astronauts are finally on their way back to Earth after 9 months in space\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-18T12:26:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/18\\\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":669,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/18\\\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/18\\\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/18\\\/nasas-stuck-astronauts-are-finally-on-their-way-back-to-earth-after-9-months-in-space\\\/\",\"name\":\"NASA's stuck astronauts are finally on their way back to Earth after 9 months in space - 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