Washington: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely returned to Earth on Tuesday, splashing down off Florida’s coast in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Their return concluded an unplanned nine-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), following the failure of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
Originally planned as an eight-day test flight, the astronauts’ journey turned into a 286-day odyssey due to propulsion system issues with Starliner.
The mission, initially a demonstration of Boeing’s new crew vehicle, became a test of NASA’s contingency planning and highlighted the challenges of commercial spaceflight.
Mission Marked by Uncertainty
Wilmore and Williams, both veteran NASA astronauts and retired US Navy test pilots, were launched aboard Starliner in June 2024. However, technical malfunctions with the spacecraft led to prolonged delays in their return.
Eventually, NASA decided to integrate the astronauts into its regular crew rotation aboard the ISS and bring them home via SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
On Tuesday morning, the two astronauts, along with two additional Crew-9 members, undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. ET (0505 GMT) and embarked on a 17-hour journey back to Earth.
The capsule successfully re-entered the atmosphere, using its heatshield and parachutes to reduce its speed from 17,000 mph (27,359 kph) to a gentle 17 mph before splashing down at 5:57 p.m. ET, approximately 50 miles off Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Recovery and Reintegration
Following splashdown, Wilmore and Williams were transported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for routine health checks. NASA officials emphasized that the astronauts would receive well-deserved rest before reuniting with their families.
“They will get some well-deserved time off, well-deserved time with their families. It’s been a long time for them,” said Steve Stich, head of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
The unplanned welcome crew!
Crew-9 had some surprise visitors after splashing down this afternoon.🐬 pic.twitter.com/yuOxtTsSLV
— NASA’s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) March 18, 2025
Endurance in Space
During their extended stay, Wilmore and Williams contributed to approximately 150 scientific experiments aboard the ISS. Their 286-day mission surpassed the typical six-month duration but remained well short of the US record held by astronaut Frank Rubio, who spent 371 consecutive days in space due to an unrelated spacecraft malfunction.
Williams, now on her third spaceflight, has accumulated a total of 608 days in orbit, making her the second most experienced US astronaut after Peggy Whitson’s record of 675 days. The world record for the most cumulative days in space remains with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko at 878 days.
The return of Wilmore and Williams marks the end of a mission that tested human endurance and highlighted the unpredictability of space travel.
