What a Ride!" Astronauts Triumphantly Return to Earth After Epic SpaceX Mission

March 18, 2025
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return to earth

NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, near Tallahassee, Florida, at 5:57 p.m. EDT.

Hague and Gorbunov had been aboard the International Space Station since September 29, 2024, while Williams and Wilmore joined them on June 6. This marks the completion of a 171-day space mission for Hague and Gorbunov and a 286-day mission for Williams and Wilmore.

Teams aboard the SpaceX recovery ship, assisted by two fast boats, are securing the Dragon capsule and confirming its safety for retrieval. Once the fast boat teams finalize their tasks, the recovery vessel will position itself to lift Dragon onto the main deck with the Crew-9 astronauts still inside. After being brought aboard, the crew members will exit the spacecraft for medical evaluations before taking a short helicopter flight to catch a plane bound for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.