‘Earth missed you’: PM Modi hails return of Sunita Williams, three other Crew-9 astronauts

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed NASA astronaut Sunita Williams’s return to Earth and said the achievement of Crew-9 astronauts “shows us what perseverance truly means.”

The prime minister said NASA’s Crew-9 mission has been a test of grit, courage and the boundless human spirit. “Sunita Williams and the #Crew9 astronauts have once again shown us what perseverance truly means. Their unwavering determination in the face of the vast unknown will forever inspire millions,” PM Modi wrote on X.

“Space exploration is about pushing the limits of human potential, daring to dream, and having the courage to turn those dreams into reality. Sunita Williams, a trailblazer and an icon, has exemplified this spirit throughout her career,” he said.

“We are incredibly proud of all those who worked tirelessly to ensure their safe return. They have demonstrated what happens when precision meets passion and technology meets tenacity,” Modi added.

When did Sunita Williams return?
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth after spending over nine months at the International Space Station (ISS) due to unexpected delays. Their spacecraft, SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom capsule, successfully splashed down off the Florida coast near Tallahassee, at 5.57 pm ET on Tuesday (3:27am IST, Wednesday).

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore travelled to the ISS in June last year for a scheduled eight-day mission. They were forced to stay as the Boeing Starliner capsule developed issues with its propulsion system. The duo was the first crew to fly Boeing’s Starliner in a test flight. The faulty capsule returned to Earth last September.

What did Crew-9 achieve in space?
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore spent 286 days on the International Space Station, where they conducted over 4500 orbits and travelled more than 121 million statute miles.

The duo spent 286 days in space — 278 days longer than anticipated when they launched. They circled Earth 4,576 times and travelled 121 million miles (195 million kilometres) by the time of splashdown.

Sunita Williams, capping her third spaceflight, will have tallied 608 cumulative days in space, the second most for any US astronaut after Peggy Whitson’s 675 days. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko set the world record last year at 878 cumulative days.