Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth after an eight-day mission turned into a nine-month ordeal in space. The two astronauts came home with NASA’s Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, forming NASA/SpaceX Crew-9.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft brought the astronauts back home and splashed down at 3:27 am off the Florida coast.
Read more: Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Return Safely After 9 Months In Space
The astronauts were welcomed by Dolphins who were seen swimming around the capsule which was later retrieved by the recovery vessel.
There are a bunch of dolphins swimming around SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. They want to say hi to the Astronauts too! lol pic.twitter.com/sE9bVhgIi1
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) March 18, 2025
The Dolphins were swimming around the capsule when the operation to recover the capsule was underway. The recovery vessel successfully lifted the capsule out of the water after which the side hatch of the capsule was opened for the first time since September. The astronauts stepped out of the capsule and were taken to Houston for a 45-day rehabilitation program.
Live Updates: Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Taken Out Of Dragon Capsule
Crew-9 undocked at 10:35 am (IST), with NASA sharing a video of the spacecraft detaching from the space station. Elon Musk’s SpaceX was tasked with the responsibility to bring Crew-9 back to Earth. The Dragon capsule atop the Falcon 9 rocket was launched for the mission. Crew-10 has replaced Crew-9 at the International Space Station.
Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore, both former Navy pilots, had flown to the orbital lab on June 5 last year on what was supposed to be an eight-day mission and the first crewed flight of a Boeing Starliner. They were left stranded after the Starliner capsule suffered propulsion issues. Deemed unfit to fly, it returned uncrewed in September.
Amid uncertainty over their return journey, NASA reassigned them to SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, and a Dragon spacecraft was sent in September with a two-member crew, instead of the usual four, to make space for the stranded astronauts.
After a series of delays, a Dragon spacecraft carrying a relief team docked at the space station on Sunday.