Indian-origin American astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded in space for the past eight months, are expected to return to Earth by March 19. They will return aboard Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon capsule. The Crew-10 mission will launch with the Dragon capsule on March 12. It will drop off four astronauts ” Anne McClain, Nicole Aunapu Mann, Takuya Onishi, and a Roscosmos astronaut ” at the space station and bring Sunita and Butch back to Earth. Originally, they were sent to the International Space Station on a mission of just eight days. They had travelled to the station aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule last June and have been stranded in space for eight months. The journey of SpaceX’s Crew-10 Dragon capsule is highly risky. The spacecraft will travel at a speed of 28,000 km/h, and the temperature will rise to approximately 1,500°C as it re-enters Earth’s orbit. If all phases proceed as planned, the capsule will descend safely to Earth with the help of parachutes. However, any shortcomings in the process could pose a major risk. Hopefully, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return safely and successfully complete their space mission.
