The unplanned extended stay of NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Bruce Wilmore on the International Space Station (ISS) has finally come to an end.
Wilmore and Williams returned safely to Earth along with two other astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
The duo had been stranded at the ISS since June 2021, when their spacecraft developed mechanical difficulties en route to the ISS.
Rather than risk returning in the Boeing Starliner capsule, NASA arranged for the astronauts to remain on the ISS until a ride home could be arranged.
While there, they neither paid overtime nor enjoyed any particularly unusual perks beyond regular ISS research activities.
For anyone wishing to simulate the experience of microgravity, the European Space Agency is paying volunteers €5,000 to spend 10 days lying in a water tank, covered up to their torso.
