Sunita and Butch return: Exploring astronauts’ activities

NASA’s Crew-10 mission, in partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is set to return astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore after their nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Both astronauts have expressed their commitment to maximizing their experiences in space.

So, how did the NASA astronauts utilize their time while orbiting 400 kilometers above Earth? 

During their tenure on the ISS, Suni, 59, and Butch, 62, played vital roles in ongoing missions by performing maintenance tasks, conducting scientific experiments, and engaging in spacewalks.

As detailed on NASA’s official website, Williams and Wilmore explored methods to enhance plant growth in microgravity environments. They focused on the Plant Water Management (PWM) system, investigating how principles of fluid physics, such as surface tension and hydroponics, can be applied to effectively hydrate and nourish plants in space. This research is essential for future long-duration missions aimed at growing food on spacecraft, according to NASA.

Additionally, the astronauts maintained the Vegetable Production System, known as ‘Veggie’, which is designed for cultivating fresh produce on the ISS. Wilmore installed a light meter within the Veggie facility to measure light levels and adjust settings, ensuring optimal conditions for plant development.

Williams took command of ‘Expedition 72’, overseeing station operations and crew activities. Her leadership was instrumental in ensuring the station operated smoothly during crew transitions and ongoing missions.

Both astronauts also engaged in spacewalks to conduct maintenance on the station’s exterior. Notably, Williams set a new record for total spacewalking duration by a female astronaut, accumulating 62 hours and 6 minutes, as reported by various media outlets.

During their time aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the crew celebrated Christmas and participated in last year’s U.S. election. As reported by the BBC, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, along with their fellow Americans Don Pettit and Nick Hague, cast their votes with assistance from NASA. To facilitate this process, the Mission Control Center in Houston securely sent encrypted ballots to the ISS via email. The astronauts filled out the ballots and transmitted them back to Earth through a satellite link to a ground terminal in New Mexico. Subsequently, the ballots were forwarded via landlines to Mission Control, which electronically submitted them to the respective county clerks for official processing, according to the report.

Originally scheduled to return on Boeing’s Starliner after an eight-day mission, technical issues compelled NASA to extend their stay by approximately nine months, allowing for ongoing research and maintenance on the ISS. After extensive planning and coordination, NASA arranged for Wilmore and Williams to return home in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. They departed from the ISS this morning, with NASA sharing a video of the spacecraft’s separation from the space station.