A pod of dolphins were seen swimming near a SpaceX capsule carrying US astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, Suni Williams and Nicholas Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov after it splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Wilmore and Williams had been stuck aboard the International Space Station for nine months due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner capsule. Arriving on 6 June 2024, the pair intended to stay long enough to evaluate Starliner’s docking and operational capabilities during its first crewed flight and return home no more than 10 days later.
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Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS on 6 June last year, intending to stay long enough to evaluate Starliner’s docking and operational capabilities during its first crewed flight and return home no more than 10 days later.
But a series of technical issues and safety fears led Nasa and Boeing to send the capsule back to Earth empty in September, and extend the pair’s stay by making them crew members onboard the space station in place of two other astronauts still on the ground who were reassigned to other future missions.
The Dragon capsule, called Freedom, undocked from the orbiting outpost at 1.05am ET on Monday, containing Williams and Wilmore – as well as Hague and Gorbunov – who had arrived at the space station in September.
Hague said that it had been a privilege to “call the station home” as part of an international effort for the “benefit of humanity”.
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