Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore homecoming: How to watch splashdown live & everything you need to know

The long awaited return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore — two NASA astronauts who have remained in space for months longer than planned — could soon be fulfilled.

The SpaceX capsule carrying NASA's stuck astronauts departed from the International Space Station for the trip back to Earth, on Tuesday.

The two veteran astronauts and US Navy test pilots, became the first humans to test-fly Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in June last year.

But problems with Starliner's propulsion system during the flight forced an extension of their planned eight-day stay as NASA deemed it too risky for them to fly home on the craft, which returned to Earth empty.

In order to bring the stranded astronauts home, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with a replacement crew arrived at the ISS at 1:35 am Eastern time on Sunday.

Here is everything you need to know about the mission.

Splashdown time

Williams and Wilmore, who have now spent more than nine months at the ISS, could be back on Earth on Tuesday evening.

According to a New York Times report, NASA on Sunday said it was pushing the return date earlier, to Tuesday, to take advantage of a good weather forecast along the Gulf Coast of Florida where the astronauts will splash down. The weather is expected to be less favorable later in the week.

It was initially slated to be "no sooner than Wednesday."

The reason behind the decision to bring back the astronauts earlier has been taken in view of conserving supplies like food.

In post on X. NASA said the splashdown is slated for approximately 5:57 pm, Florida time, Tuesday, March 18 (3:27 am IST, March 19).

When and where to watch live coverage?

NASA will provide live coverage of Crew-9’s return to Earth from the International Space Station beginning with SpaceX Dragon hatch closure preparations at 10:45 pm ET Monday, March 17 (around 8:30 am on March 18 in India).

Nick Hague of NASA and Aleksandr Gorbunov of the Russian space agency, will also be in the SpaceX spacecraft. The journey back will take about 17 hours.

Will the astronauts get extra pay for overstay?

Though Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore's nine month stay in space is not the longest, it has still intrigued people about the amount the two astronauts might receive for their "overtime."

In an interview with Washingtonian, retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman refuted the claims that the astronauts will get extra pay for their time in space. “Astronauts are paid like any federal employee on a business trip. They get their regular salary, no overtime, and NASA takes care of transportation, lodging, and food,” she said.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the two federal government employees have an annual salary ranging from $125,133 to $162,672 (Rs 1.08 crore to Rs 1.41 crore).

However, Coleman further added that there is some small amount of money per day for incidentals that NASA is legally obligated to pay.

As per Coleman’s data, Williams and Wilmore could receive an extra amount of $1,148 (approximately Rs 1 lakh) each for their overstay.