 "Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore safely return home after 9 months; WATCH NASA astronauts' splashdown moment")
synopsis
NASA astronauts Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have successfully returned to Earth after spending nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA astronauts Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have successfully returned to Earth after spending nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The duo splashed down safely in the SpaceX Crew Dragon 'Freedom' capsule on Wednesday early morning, marking the end of a mission filled with unexpected challenges and historic moments.
NASA provided live coverage of the splashdown on X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and NASA+, capturing the precise moment the SpaceX Crew-9 mission re-entered Earth's atmosphere and splashed down off the coast of Florida. Accompanying Williams and Wilmore were SpaceX Crew-9 astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The Dragon spacecraft headed to Earth, it deployed parachutes. The spacecraft equipped with two drogue parachutes to stabilize the spacecraft following reentry and four main parachutes to further decelerate the spacecraft prior to landing.
Watch iconic splashdown moment
Williams and Wilmore initially reached the ISS on June 5 aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Their stay, initially expected to last a week, was prolonged after technical issues arose with the Starliner, including helium leaks and malfunctioning reaction control thrusters. In September 2024, NASA made the decision to send the uncrewed Starliner back to Earth, freeing up the ISS docking port for other missions.
The return journey of Williams and Wilmore has been closely monitored, with NASA and SpaceX meeting over the weekend to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida's coast. Favorable conditions allowed the Crew-9 team to begin their 17-hour return trip to Earth at 1:05 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
As they prepared to leave the ISS, Nick Hague shared his reflections on his time in space, saying, "It's been a privilege to call the Space Station home, to play my part in its 25-year legacy of doing research for humanity, and to work with colleagues, now friends, from around the globe. My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected."
SpaceX's successful return of the astronauts was celebrated as a landmark moment, especially after the delays caused by technical setbacks and the urgency added by US President Donald Trump, who urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to expedite the mission.
The crew will now undergo NASA's 45-day post-mission rehabilitation program is designed to help astronauts recover from the physical effects of spaceflight.
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