NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore will conduct a live call to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) today, September 13, at 2:15 p.m. EDT. The press conference will be held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Williams and Wilmore, who launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5, arrived at the ISS on June 6. The Starliner was later returned to Earth uncrewed on September 6 after a successful mission, landing safely at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Both astronauts expressed their gratitude to the support teams for the successful return of the spacecraft, referring to it by its nickname, “Calypso.”
Williams and Wilmore will remain on the ISS as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew and are scheduled to return to Earth in February 2025 aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
In related news, the Polaris Dawn crew, part of Elon Musk’s private spaceflight program, achieved a milestone by completing the first commercial spacewalk. Wearing newly-designed SpaceX extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, the crew performed a two-hour operation at 3:12 a.m. EDT while traveling at 17,500 miles per hour in an elliptical orbit. The spacewalk involved Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis, who tested the suits and Dragon mobility aid “Skywalker,” while Mission Pilot Scott Poteet and Mission Specialist Anna Menon provided support.
Polaris Dawn’s mission, a key component of the Polaris Program aimed at advancing human spaceflight, is set to target splashdown off the coast of Florida. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn crew, highlighting the achievement as a significant step forward for the commercial space industry and NASA’s goal of a vibrant U.S. space economy.