On March 18, 2025, NASA astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore, along with Crew-9 members Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, safely returned to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon "Freedom" spacecraft. The splashdown occurred at 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT) off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, marking the end of an extended mission for Williams and Wilmore that began in June 2024.
- The Situation:
- NASA astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore, who had flown to the International Space Station (ISS) on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, experienced a significantly extended stay due to technical issues with their original return vehicle.
- Due to those technical issues, it was deemed that the Boeing Starliner was not safe for their return.
- They then returned to earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, along with crew members from crew-9.
- The Return:
- The astronauts successfully splashed down off the coast of Florida.
- The return was a culmination of a long wait, as their initial mission was intended to be much shorter.
- This mission was unique due to the fact that Astronauts flew on one commercial space craft to the ISS, and returned on another.
- Key Details:
- The technical problems with the Boeing Starliner included thruster failures and helium leaks.
- The astronauts spent approximately nine months on the ISS.
In essence, after an extended stay caused by technical difficulties with their original spacecraft, the astronauts safely returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.