Sunita Williams to say ‘final good-bye’ to space? When will NASA astronauts return? Will Elon Musk help? What we know

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are set to return to Earth this March. Their eight-day getaway from Earth was extended to nearly nine months after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft was detected with faults. They are now preparing to head back home on SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

When will the two Starliner-NASA astronauts return to Earth? Will it be Sunita Williams' 'final good-bye' to space? Will Elon Musk help in their return?

Sunita Williams return date OUT: When will she ride back home?

NASA expects Sunita Williams's crew to return on March 16 as of now.

NASA officials said on Saturday that Crew 9 — which includes NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — will return only after Crew 10 is launched into space.

Crew 10 is a replacement for Crew 9 — which reached the International Space Station in September 2024.

Currently, Crew 10 is scheduled to launch at 7:48 pm EDT, Wednesday, March 12. "So, for March 12 launch for Crew 10, Crew 9 undock [return] will be on March 16," NASA official said at a teleconference on Saturday.

What if the launch of Crew 10 is delayed?

If the launch of Crew 10 is delayed, Crew-9's return may also be delayed. The NASA official said two full days of handover period between Crew 10 and Crew 9 is required.

So if Crew 10 launches on March 12, the targeted docking time will be approximately 10 am EDT, Thursday, March 13. This means handover between Crew 9 and Crew 10 will take place on March 14 and 15, and then Crew 9 will return on March 16.

NASA said if the conditions are not favorable for Crew 10 launch on March 12, there are backup opportunities for a launch on March 13 at 7:35 pm and March 14 at 7:04 pm.

That way, the return date for Crew 9 will be March 17 and March 18.

Will it be Sunita Williams' 'final good-bye' to space?

Sunita Williams was asked on March 4: "Do you feel like you are saying one final good-bye to the ISS and you planning to leave anything personal behind?"

The NASA astronaut replied, "Oh don't remind me this might be my last flight. That's a little sad, I am trying not to think about it too much...," Sunita Williams said.

To the second question, she said that there might be some thing hidden for the next crew. "Maybe they have to find something...I am not going to tell you where. They'll have to just find it," she said.

Will Elon Musk help return Sunita Williams?

NASA already that Sunita Williams and other Crew 9 members will return to Earth on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX is owned by Musk.

NASA has officially certified SpaceX’s crew system and started regular missions with astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft launches on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Despite this, US President Donald Trump said he had asked his close advisor Elon Musk to assist in bringing back to Earth.

Trump said recently that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is “right now preparing a ship to go up” and get them. He, however, said Musk is preparing Starship to bring back the astronauts.

“So I've authorised Elon. A week ago, I said, we have two people up there that (Joe) Biden and Kamala (Harris) left up there, and he knows it very well. I said, ‘Are you equipped to get them?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ He's got a starship, and they're preparing it right now, and so Elon is going to go up and get them," Trump said.