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Added on the 09/11/2021 05:53:31 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
Two US astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station aboard Boeing's Starliner will have to return home with rival SpaceX, NASA says. "NASA has decided that Butch and Sunny will return with Crew 9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed," NASA administrator Bill Nelson tells reporters. The return of Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams has been delayed by thruster malfunctions of the Boeing spacecraft. SOUNDBITE
The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft has undocked from the International Space Station and started its journey to return to Earth with two US astronauts aboard. Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken spent two months aboard the orbiting laboratory after becoming the first US astronauts to reach ISS on an American spacecraft in nearly a decade. IMAGES
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov hug their International Space Station crewmates before boarding a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to Earth. Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev closes the hatch of the capsule. NASA, earlier in March, said tensions linked to the war in Ukraine had no impact on ISS operations or the planned return of an American astronaut aboard a Russian capsule later this month. There have been fears that soaring tensions between the United States and Russia over Ukraine could leave the 55-year-old stranded on the outpost. There had been fears that soaring tensions between the United States and Russia over Ukraine could leave the 55-year-old Vande Hei stranded on the outpost. IMAGES
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa returns to Earth after 12 days at the International Space Station. Footage from the landing site, around 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of the central Kazakhstan town of Zhezkazgan, shows Maezawa, his assistant Yozo Hirano, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin smiling after being helped out of the Soyuz descent module and into evacuation vehicles in freezing, foggy conditions. IMAGES
The International Space Station's hatch opens for the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, welcoming four astronautsm Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn and Matthias Maurer. They are kicking off a six-month stay on the orbiting outpost. IMAGES