The summary
- Three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut left the International Space Station on Wednesday after weeks of delays.
- Their return flight was initially postponed as a result of the problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, then again more recently because of poor weather.
- A primary cause of the delay this month: Hurricane Milton.
After weeks of delays due to inclement weather, three astronauts and a cosmonaut left the International Space Station on Wednesday, wrapping up an almost eight-month stint in orbit.
NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin departed the space station at 5:05 p.m. ET, undocking from the orbiting outpost in their SpaceX Dragon capsule.
Their return flight had been delayed multiple times. First, an undocking attempt Oct. 7 was called off because of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm.
NASA and SpaceX have multiple designated splashdown zones for return flights, but all are located off the coast of Florida.
After the hurricane passed, the journey back to Earth was postponed several more times because of unfavorable weather at the splashdown sites, according to NASA. Stormy conditions and choppy seas not only pose problems for the capsule when it splashes down in the water but can also be dangerous for the rescue teams who retrieve the astronauts and their spacecraft.
Even before the recent weather issues, Dominick, Barratt, Epps and Grebenkin had stayed in space longer than originally planned.
Their mission, called Crew-8, arrived at the International Space Station on March 5 and was initially scheduled to return to Earth in September. But their stint in orbit was extended so that their Dragon spacecraft could serve as an emergency lifeboat for two astronauts who flew to space aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule.
Issues with that spacecraft led NASA to bring the Starliner capsule back without a crew in early September. The astronauts who launched on it — Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams — were originally expected to stay on the space station for just around a week but are still there four months later. Had Crew-8 departed at the original time, that would have left astronauts without a way to get home should an urgent problem arise.
A separate mission, known as Crew-9, launched two crew members — NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — to the space station on a SpaceX capsule late last month. That vehicle can fit four, so it had two empty seats, which will be used to bring Wilmore and Williams home. But they’ll stay in space until the scheduled end of the Crew-9 mission in February.
Members of the group that departed the space station Wednesday spent their time there conducting research, scientific experiments and assisting with visiting spacecraft, including the problem-plagued Starliner.
The trip home will take roughly 34 hours in total. The crew members are expected to splash down off the coast of Florida on Friday at around 3:30 a.m. ET.
