LOS ANGELES, March 17 (Xinhua) -- NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) since last June, are scheduled to return to Earth aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft on Tuesday, according to NASA.
Their fellow Crew-9 astronauts, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are also preparing to leave the ISS following the arrival of Crew-10 to the orbital laboratory.
NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida's coast for the return of the Crew-9 astronauts.
Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favorable conditions forecasted for Tuesday evening, said NASA.
According to the latest schedule, the spacecraft carrying the four astronauts is scheduled to undock from ISS at 1:05 a.m. Eastern Time (0505 GMT) Tuesday to start the journey home. The spacecraft is scheduled for a splashdown off Florida's coast at 5:57 p.m. Eastern Time (2157 GMT) Tuesday.
NASA said mission managers will continue monitoring weather conditions in the area, as Dragon's undocking depends on various factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather and sea states.
Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in space since last June due to technical problems of Boeing's Starliner which took them to the ISS. ■
