Former NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez commemorated the return of the astronauts who were stranded at the International Space Station.
SpaceX Crew-10 successfully docked the Dragon spacecraft on the ISS on Sunday, nine months after the two NASA astronauts began a mission meant to last about a week. During takeoff, the NASA spacecraft carrying Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had a malfunction that made a return to Earth aboard it too risky.
The Dragon is slated to undock from the ISS on Tuesday at 1:05 a.m. EST if the weather permits. SpaceX explained that the return mission includes a plan to “re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 17 hours later the same day.”
“They want to make it as easy as possible for the astronauts returning home,” Hernandez said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom Monday. “They want favorable wave conditions. The last thing you want to do after you have been up in space for nine months is to be a long time with high waves and you getting seasick.”
While Wilmore and Williams have been there since June of last year, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also be brought back. The pair have been there since Sept. 28, when another SpaceX Dragon craft carried them to the station.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claimed on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast earlier this month that the Biden administration rejected his offer to help bring the astronauts home sooner. While the Biden administration denied Musk’s claim, Musk suggested it had to do with his endorsement of Trump because “there’s no way that they’re going to make anyone who’s supporting Trump look good.”
SPACEX DRAGON REACHES STRANDED ASTRONAUTS
Hernandez said that the rescue mission was set for February “even way before the Trump administration” due to an “issue of supply.” The spacecraft certification for human flight is much higher than that of unmanned flights, which increases delays.
Astronauts have continuously occupied the ISS since 2000.