‘286 Days in Orbit: Sunita Williams and Crew-9 to Reveal ISS Journey on March 31’
Houston, March 25, 2025 — NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Barry “Butch” Wilmore, and Nick Hague are set to share their extraordinary experiences from an extended mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during a postflight news conference on March 31 at 2:30 p.m. EDT (April 1 at 12:00 a.m. IST). The event, broadcast live from NASA’s streaming platform NASA+ and across its social media channels—including X, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch—will offer the public a rare glimpse into their groundbreaking work and the challenges they faced in space.
Originally launched on Boeing’s Starliner for an eight-day test flight in June 2024, Williams and Wilmore found themselves stranded due to technical glitches, extending their stay to 286 days. During this time, they traveled 121,347,491 miles and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth. Meanwhile, Nick Hague, joined by Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, embarked on a planned 171-day mission, covering 72,553,920 miles and 2,736 orbits. The four returned to Earth together on March 18 aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, though Gorbunov will miss the conference due to travel commitments, NASA confirmed.
The astronauts logged over 900 hours of scientific research, tackling experiments with far-reaching implications. They explored plant growth in microgravity, yielding insights into space agriculture that could also enhance farming techniques on Earth. Stem cell studies conducted during the mission promise advances in regenerative medicine and patient care. Additionally, they examined how materials degrade under space’s harsh conditions—radiation and microgravity—offering critical data for designing durable spacecraft and satellites.
Beyond lab work, Williams and her colleagues ventured outside the ISS for a spacewalk, collecting exterior samples to study how microorganisms survive in space. These findings could prove vital for future missions to Mars or sustained habitats beyond Earth, shedding light on life’s resilience in extreme environments.
This mission, a testament to human endurance and ingenuity, has delivered a wealth of data poised to shape the future of space exploration. From understanding long-term health effects to refining technologies for deep-space travel, the crew’s efforts lay groundwork for humanity’s next steps to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Tune in March 31 to hear their firsthand accounts of this historic journey.