SpaceX Capsule Successfully Docks in Space As Astronauts Prepare to Return After Nine Months

Sunita “Suni” Williams and Butch Wilmore, the two NASA astronauts who have remained in for nine months, are one step closer to returning home after a SpaceX capsule docked at the International Space Station early Sunday morning. The Dragon spacecraft arrived at 1:35 a.m. Eastern time with four astronauts onboard from the U.S., Russia, and Japan, in a crew-swap mission and were welcomed by Williams and Wilmore, as well as the rest of the crew. Williams and Wilmore have been in space months longer than planned for. The pair had initially set out on an eight-day mission back in June, but after the spacecraft, Boeing’s Starliner, experienced technical issues their time there was extended. Despite the unexpected circumstances, in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in February, the two astronauts said they did not feel stuck or abandoned. Williams and Wilmore are set to begin their return home as early as Wednesday after the handover to the new crew is complete.