Two astronauts stuck in space for more than nine months head back to Earth
Two astronauts stuck in space for more than nine months have left the International Space Station on their 17-hour journey back to Earth.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off to the ISS on 5 June, and were meant to be up there for just eight days.
They were testing out Boeing’s long-awaited Starliner, a ship designed to rival SpaceX’s Crew Dragon that is currently used to ferry astronauts into space.
Read more: What can being in space for so long do to your health?
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Pic: NASA Johnson
But by the time they docked at the ISS, the Starliner had suffered major problems – with five helium leaks, five dead manoeuvring thrusters and a propellant valve that failed to close completely.
It returned to Earth without them, after it was decided the astronauts would be safer waiting in orbit.
Since then, the two US Navy veterans have completed spacewalks, experiments and even helped sort out the plumbing onboard.
The astronauts have repeatedly said they have enjoyed the mission, with Ms Williams describing the space station as her “happy place”.
“Every day is interesting because we’re up in space and it’s a lot of fun,” she said earlier this month, although she added the waiting was likely hard for family members on the ground.
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Stranded astronauts answer questions
The SpaceX vehicle that will take them home arrived at the space station in September, carrying NASA’s Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, along with two empty seats.
Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams then stuck around so that the other two astronauts could complete their mission, although their return was once more delayed because of problems with the SpaceX rocket that was going to bring them back.
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Watch lift-off of SpaceX rocket crew swap
The crew replacing them all arrived at the ISS on Sunday, with hugs shared all around.
A ship’s bell, long used to welcome new crewmates to the space station, was rung as NASA’s Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos’s Kirill Peskov came aboard.
The long-awaited crew is expected to splashdown off the coast of Florida at around 10pm GMT on Tuesday, after a 17-hour trip.
The group was planning to come back on Wednesday but “favourable” weather conditions meant their return could be brought forward by one day.
Elon Musk says he has created a new political party – the America Party –
after asking his followers if he should do so in an online poll.
It follows his public falling out with Republican President Donald Trump.
On Friday, the billionaire had asked his followers on X whether a new US political party should be created.
On Saturday evening he wrote on the same platform: “By a factor of 2 to 1, you want a new political party and you shall have it!
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.
“Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
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Trump threatens to ‘put DOGE’ on Musk
The world’s richest man made the announcement just one day after President Trump signed a tax-cut and spending bill into law on Friday, which Musk had fiercely opposed.
Musk had previously said we would form and fund a new political party to unseat lawmakers who supported the bill.
From bromance to bust-up
The Tesla boss backed Trump’s election campaign with more than a quarter of a billion dollars, later rewarded with a high profile role running the newly created department of government efficiency (DOGE).
But observers of the two men, both with huge wealth and reputations, wondered how long the bromance would last.
Donald Trump gave Musk a warm send-off in the Oval Office in May. Pic: Reuters
In May Musk left the role, still on good terms with Trump but criticising key parts of his legislative agenda.
After that, the attacks ramped up, with Musk slamming the sweeping tax and spending bill as a “disgusting abomination” and Trump hitting back in a barbed tit-for-tat.
Trump earlier this week threatened to cut off the billion-dollar federal subsidies that flow to Musk’s companies, and said he would even consider deporting him.
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