New Delhi, Jan 30, 2025, IANS

New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) NASA on Thursday said it is “working expeditiously” along with SpaceX to safely bring back Indian origin astronaut Sunita Williams and astronaut Butch Willmore, currently stuck in the International Space Station (ISS) for 238 days. NASA said this after billionaire and SpaceX founder Elon Musk stated that US President Donald Trump had asked him to facilitate the return of both Williams and Wilmore as soon as possible. The SpaceX CEO said that it was "terrible" that the pair were left "stranded" at the ISS for so long. “NASA and SpaceX are expeditiously working to safely return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore as soon as practical,” the US space agency said in a post on social media platform X. NASA said it is “also preparing for the launch of Crew-10 to complete a handover between expeditions”. However, NASA has yet to confirm the date of return. Musk noted that NASA had already roped in SpaceX months ago to return both astronauts as part of its Crew-9 mission. Williams has spent more than 322 days in space throughout her two missions. She along with fellow NASA astronaut Butch Willmore became the first to ride the faulty Starliner, developed by Boeing in June 2024. What began as an eight-day sojourn on the ISS has extended to 238 days now in space for the astronaut duo. They were earlier expected to return in February, but it was delayed by another month. They are now scheduled to return to Earth onboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule in March. Earlier, speaking to students from a US school, Williams revealed what it was like living at the space station and that she has “been trying to remember what it's like to walk” The 59-year-old NASA astronaut is also expected to undertake the second spacewalk on Thursday at 6.30 pm. This will be her second spacewalk in the last 12 years. During the mission, Wilmore and Williams will remove a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss, and collect samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock to see whether microorganisms may exist on the exterior of the orbital complex, NASA said. They will also prepare a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm in the event it is needed for a replacement. With 50 hours and 40 minutes, she is second on the list of total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.