NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were on their way home Tuesday after being stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) orbital laboratory for 286 days.
Their return is thanks in no small part to the combined efforts of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
UPI reports the pair of astronauts along with Crew-9 members NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were aboard the SpaceX capsule as it detached from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. EDT, putting them on the 17-hour flight back to Earth.
The SpaceX Dragon is expected to splash down off the coast of Florida at about 5:57 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.
Rescue Mission! SpaceX Dragon Craft Docks with International Space Station to Retrieve Astronauts
Following months of delays and Trump last month asking ally and SpaceX CEO Musk to “go get” them, Williams and Wilmore are being delivered to their starting point on Earth.
As Breitbart News reported, in a viral video shared by both Trump and Musk, the astronauts thanked the pair for their unstinting support in bringing them back to Earth.
The 286 days Williams and Wilmore spent in space is among the longest single space missions in NASA history, but well behind the record of 371 days held by astronaut Frank Rubio.
The successful return of the astronauts will mark another milestone for SpaceX and its collaboration with NASA.
The company has been instrumental in providing reliable transportation to and from the ISS, ensuring the continuity of human spaceflight missions.
