Two long-delayed Starliner astronauts, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams, returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Tuesday to lastly shut out a repeatedly prolonged 286-day odyssey in area. They shared the trip dwelling with two outgoing area station crewmates, Crew 9 commander Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
Seventeen hours after undocking from the Worldwide Area Station, the Crew Dragon settled to a delicate, on-target splashdown off Florida’s Gulf Coast close to Tallahassee at 5:57 p.m. EDT.
The Crew Dragon capsule carrying Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams and two different astronauts descends by parachute earlier than splashdown off the coast of Florida on March 18, 2025.
NASA TV by way of Reuters
“Splashdown! Good mains launch,” Hague radioed SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, after the 4 most important parachutes have been launched from the Crew Dragon.
“Copy, splashdown,” a SpaceX engineer replied. “We see most important chutes lower. Nick, Alex, Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome dwelling.”
“What a trip,” Hague stated. “I see a capsule filled with grins, ear to ear.”
A SpaceX restoration ship was stationed close by to haul the spacecraft on board so the crew might be helped out of the Crew Dragon’s cabin and onto stretchers for preliminary medical checks. The aspect hatch was opened at 6:38 p.m. EDT and the crew started to emerge into the contemporary air and sunshine about 10 minutes later. Williams and Wilmore have been the final ones out.
Astronaut Suni Williams waves as she exits the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after splashdown on March 18, 2025.
NASA TV
For the 2 Starliner astronauts, it closed out a marathon mission that was initially purported to final about eight days however stretched to 9 and a half months, protecting 4,576 orbits and 121 million miles since launch final June 5 aboard a problem-plagued Boeing capsule. Their flight ranks sixth on the record of longest single NASA missions.
Hague and Gorbunov spent 171 days in orbit since their launch final September aboard the Crew 9 ferry ship.
All station astronauts spend two hours a day in orbit exercising to reduce bone and muscle loss within the weightlessness of area. Even so, Wilmore and Williams will face in depth rehabilitation over the following a number of weeks and months as their our bodies re-adapt to the unfamiliar tug of gravity.
The Crew 9 astronauts posed within the hatch of their Crew Dragon capsule. Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore is at left, with pilot Sunita Williams at proper. Crew 10 commander Nick Hague is at prime in a black shirt whereas crewmate Alexander Gorbunov, a Russian cosmonaut, is at backside in a inexperienced shirt.
NASA
How did the astronauts return to Earth?
After bidding their ISS crewmates farewell, the returning astronauts floated into their Crew Dragon and undocked from the Concord module’s space-facing port early Tuesday, at 1:05 a.m. EDT.
Beginning at 5:11 p.m., the flight plan referred to as for an automatic seven-and-a-half-minute de-orbit thruster firing to gradual the ship down for re-entry.
Twenty-seven minutes later, approaching the Florida Gulf Coast on a southwest-to-northeast trajectory, the Crew Dragon reached the discernible environment, enduring warmth protect temperatures of greater than 2,500 levels because the spacecraft quickly slowed within the thickening air.
9 minutes after entry, the Crew Dragon’s three most important parachutes unfurled for the capsule’s remaining descent to splashdown within the Gulf, south of Tallahassee.
Dolphins swim close to a SpaceX capsule after splashdown off Florida’s Gulf Coast on March 18, 2025.
SpaceX by way of AP
From the restoration ship, all 4 Crew 9 fliers might be flown to shore by helicopter, the place a NASA jet is ready to ferry them again to Houston and the Johnson Area Heart for reunions with members of the family and extra in depth medical checks.
Why have been the astronauts caught longer on the ISS?
Wilmore and Williams launched to the Worldwide Area Station final June 5 on the primary piloted check flight of Boeing’s Starliner. The spacecraft suffered a number of propulsion system helium leaks and thruster issues throughout rendezvous with the area station, and NASA finally determined to maintain them on the station and to carry the Starliner down, with out its crew, by distant management.
NASA launched the following crew rotation mission — Crew 9 — in September carrying simply two crew members, Hague and Gorbunov, as a substitute of 4. Wilmore and Williams then joined the Crew 9 fliers aboard the ISS for a normal-duration six-month mission.
By maintaining them in area as a part of Crew 9, NASA was in a position to decrease the disruption to the ISS crew rotation sequence whereas sustaining a full slate of experiments and analysis.
NASA cleared the way in which for Crew 9’s return to Earth by launching 4 replacements — Crew 10 commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi — final Friday.
Sporting darkish blue flight fits, Crew 10 commander Anne McClain, pilot Nichole Ayers, cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi are welcomed aboard the area station after arrival early Saturday. With Crew 10 on board, Crew 9, together with the 2 Starliner astronauts, have been cleared for return to Earth.
NASA
Regular follow requires a five-day “handover” between crews so the brand new arrivals may be absolutely briefed on the ins and outs of station operations and upkeep. However on this case, handover was shortened to simply at some point to benefit from predicted favorable splashdown climate within the Gulf.
The plight of the Starliner astronauts generated unprecedented curiosity throughout their prolonged keep in area, making headlines around the globe and even prompting claims by President Trump that the crew had been “deserted” in area by the Biden administration.
Astronauts on Boeing’s Starliner say politics will not be a consider prolonged keep in area
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“This started once I requested Elon Musk to go up and get the deserted astronauts, as a result of the Biden administration was incapable of doing so,” he posted Monday on Reality Social. “They shamefully forgot in regards to the astronauts, as a result of they thought of it to be a really embarrassing occasion for them.”
“Elon and I’ve taken on the mission, sending up the SpaceX Dragon, which has efficiently docked and, hopefully, whereas there’s at all times hazard concerned in such a mission, they may quickly be on their means dwelling,” his publish continued.
Mr. Trump didn’t point out that NASA initially deliberate to carry the crew dwelling in February. However their mission was prolonged to March as a result of SpaceX bumped into issues with the Crew Dragon spacecraft being processed to hold the substitute Crew 10 into area.
The Crew 10 flight cleared the way in which for Crew 9 and the Starliner astronauts to come back dwelling this week — about two weeks sooner than the unique Crew Dragon might have managed.
For his half, Musk backed up the president’s claims in regards to the Biden administration “abandoning” the crew. With out providing any proof, he stated NASA turned down a suggestion to ship up a mission particularly to get Wilmore and Williams and produce them again to Earth. Nobody at NASA has but confirmed any such provide.
NASA managers have gone out of their technique to keep away from contradicting the president. However insiders say they’re “furious” in regards to the politicization of the Starliner crew’s mission.
Was this the longest any U.S. astronaut has stayed in area?
Whereas 286 days is a protracted flight by regular NASA requirements, it is nicely in need of the U.S. report for a single flight — 371 days, set by astronaut Frank Rubio in 2022-23.
Mockingly, Rubio’s report was the results of one other prolonged mission, this one the results of a serious coolant leak within the Russian Soyuz he launched aboard. The Russians determined to not carry the crew down aboard their unique spacecraft and as a substitute launched a substitute.
In consequence, Rubio ended up spending somewhat greater than a full 12 months in area, twice so long as he initially anticipated.
Given Williams’ two earlier stays aboard the area station, she is going to transfer as much as No. 2 on the record of most skilled U.S. astronauts with 608 days in area general. Solely former astronaut Peggy Whitson has extra time aloft, 675 days over 4 flights. Wilmore’s whole throughout three flights will stand at 464 days aloft.
Extra
William Harwood