The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shared some “interesting” statistics on Crew-9’s return to Earth. NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov landed on Earth around 3:30 am IST on Wednesday, March 19. Their much-awaited return had been a spectacle for the world.
As three NASA astronauts and one cosmonaut splashed down off Florida’s coast, the US space agency shared some interesting facts about the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Here’s what numbers say:
1. Sunita Williams logged the second-most time in space by a US astronaut.
2. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore traveled 121,347,491 miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth.
3. Although Wilmore and Williams’ 286-day stay exceeds the typical six-month ISS rotation, it ranks only sixth among US records for single-mission duration.
4. Meanwhile, Hague and Gorbunov traveled 72,553,920 miles during their mission, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits around Earth.
5. Sunita Williams logged 608 days in space over her three flights, Butch Wilmore logged 464 days in space over his three flights, and Hague logged 374 days in space over his two missions. The Crew-9 mission was the first spaceflight for Gorbunov.
6. Crew-9 conducted more than 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations between them, with over 900 hours of research.
7. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams saw eight different visiting vehicle from the ISS.
8. Sunita Williams conducted two spacewalks; Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague conducted one each. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams logged 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalking on January 30, surpassing the record for the most time spent in the vacuum of space by a woman.
Crew-9 splashdown
The SpaceX capsule of Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico on March 19, just hours after departing the International Space Station. Splashdown occurred off the coast of Tallahassee in the Florida Panhandle, bringing their unplanned odyssey to an end.
“What a ride,” replied Hague, the capsule’s commander. “I see a capsule full of grins ear to ear,” he added.
Dolphins circled the capsule as divers readied it for hoisting onto the recovery ship. Once safely on board, the side hatch was opened and the astronauts were helped out, one by one. Williams was next-to-last out, followed by Wilmore who gave two gloved thumbs-up.
