The safe return of the Crew-9 astronauts ends a dramatic saga for NASA, Boeing and SpaceX.
NASA officials said the crew members are likely to be reunited with their families in the next day or so. More details will be announced in the coming months about what’s next for Boeing’s Starliner capsule and how subsequent crewed flights to the International Space Station will shape up.
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Shortly after splashdown, the first recovery vessels approached.
Recovery vessels approach the Dragon capsule with the SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts shortly after splashdown Tuesday off Tallahassee, Fla.NASA / AFP via Getty Images
The next flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the International Space Station may be uncrewed, Stich said.
He said that Boeing has been testing the vehicle and that NASA will analyze the results over the summer before it decides whether to fly the capsule with or without a crew on its next test mission.
Despite the problems on the first crewed test flight that led to Williams and Wilmore’s staying at the ISS for more than nine months, Stich said Boeing “has been committed to Starliner.”
Stich thanked Wilmore’s and Williams’ families, acknowledging they were expecting a short flight but ended up having to contend with their loved ones’ being away for nine months.
“Kudos to them for being resilient,” he said.
Stich also said Williams and Wilmore displayed resiliency as they shifted from conducting a short, crewed test flight to taking on science experiments, spacewalks and other daily operations at the space station.
“I think that shows the adaptability of crew members,” he said, adding that those characteristics will be helpful on future missions to the moon and Mars.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said this moment has been “nine months in the making.” He congratulated all the teams involved and said the astronauts are doing well.
“Overall, I would say it was a really clean undocking, re-entry and landing,” he said. “The Dragon vehicle performed extremely well.”
The Dragon capsule splashes down on Tuesday.NASA
As for where that leaves Boeing and its Starliner program, Stich said NASA continues to work with the company on steps to certify the spacecraft for flights to and from the space station.
Stich said the events that unfolded around Williams and Wilmore’s time at the ISS demonstrated the need for two different crew transportation systems and the importance of having redundancy in human spaceflight systems.
Williams and Wilmore touch down back on Earth and exit the spacecraft:
NASA said the Crew-9 astronauts collectively conducted around 150 science experiments on the space station, logging more than 900 hours of research.
Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said the work is the foundation for the agency’s efforts to return to the moon and venture on to Mars.
The astronauts will next be headed to Houston for quarantine and several days of medical evaluation.
What’s not clear is what’s on the menu. The astronauts landed in the SpaceX Dragon capsule in calm seas off Florida at 5:57 p.m. — just about dinnertime.
Tacos? Pizza? Whatever terrestrial fare, it’s bound to be different from what is available on the ISS, around 200 miles or more above the surface of the Earth.
Beverages are dehydrated when they go to space, and the Space Food Systems Laboratory in Houston also develops heat-stabilized foods in pouches for astronauts aboard the ISS, the organization says on its website. NASA says they’re similar to MREs but for those in spaceflight.
In November, they didn’t miss out on that all-American tradition of Thanksgiving.
“We have a bunch of food that we’ve packed away that is Thanksgiving-ish,” Williams told “NBC Nightly News” at the time. “Some smoked turkey, some cranberry, apple cobbler, green beans and mushrooms and mashed potatoes.”
NASA said on X that the astronauts would be getting fresh food soon.
It wasn’t quite the homecoming that Boeing planned for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the first astronauts to fly aboard the company’s Starliner spacecraft, but the aerospace giant sent warm greetings to the returning crew members.
“Welcome home to the Crew-9 astronauts — NASA’s Nick Hague, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Your dedication and unwavering commitment to space exploration inspires us all,” Boeing said in the statement on X.
Alongside the three NASA astronauts who returned to Earth today was Russian cosmonaut Aleksander Gorbunov.
On Earth, political tensions between the United States and Russia have increased since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in 2022, kicking off the ongoing war.
But the cooperative relationship between the United States and Russia in space has remained consistent. Russians have continued to fly on American spacecraft and vice versa, with cosmonauts and astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station.
The White House issued a statement on X following the return of the Crew-9 astronauts: “PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months. Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA!”
The claim is misleading: NASA had planned since August to bring Williams and Wilmore home in a SpaceX capsule, and today’s return flight was the culmination of that effort. The decision was made during the Biden administration.
A watch party in Boston burst into cheers as Williams and Wilmore emerged from the capsule
NBC Boston reporter Jericho Tran was at the party for the return, where former classmates of Williams were among the crowd.
“Just massive relief,” said one of the classmates. “We’re just so proud of her.”
“It’s great to see she came back safe, and she’s here,” another said. “And everything’s better.”
Tran said she that spoke with Williams’ mother just before the capsule splashed down and that she will head to Houston to see her daughter as she goes through medical rehabilitation.
If the two weeks NASA astronaut José Hernández spent in space are any guide, the astronauts who returned to Earth today may be in for a rough readjustment, he said.
“I was up there 14 days. I remember how miserable I was readjusting to 1G [normal gravity] as I sat there waiting to be extracted,” Hernández, who went to the space station in 2009, said during NBC News’ live coverage of the landing.
Hernández returned to Earth on the space shuttle and touched down on solid ground. NASA has since retired its space shuttle fleet and now relies on SpaceX to shuttle its astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit. The company’s Dragon capsules splash down in the ocean.
“I can only imagine these guys being up there nine months, and now they’re be-bopping in the ocean,” Hernández said. “They’re going to need a little bit of help.”
Some astronauts encounter difficulties with balance upon their return, he added, and it takes a few days to adjust.
Tennessee Tech issued a warm welcome home to Barry “Butch” Wilmore, who earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the institution.
“Over the last nine months, Barry has shown the world the strength and tenacity that our campus has witnessed up close over many years,” Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham said in a statement. “His faith sustained him through unexpected challenges and brought him to this moment. He has made all of us at his alma mater enormously proud.”
After their medical exams, the four astronauts will board a helicopter flight to shore. From there, a NASA plane will fly them to the agency’s Johnson Space Center, where they will reunite with their families.
NASA has ended its live broadcast of the landing, but a post-splashdown media briefing will be held at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Wilmore and Williams’ trip to space lasted 286 days — far more than the 10-day journey planned.
But because of issues detected with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft during the test flight — particularly helium leaks and engine thruster problems — NASA was not comfortable bringing them back home on the vehicle. It has seen deadly accidents in the past, including the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, when the shuttle broke up on re-entry, killing all onboard.
Although Boeing maintained that the Starliner was safe to fly the two astronauts back home, NASA was not convinced.
That’s why Williams and Wilmore remained in space and joined Hague and Gorbunov on the SpaceX Dragon capsule today. However, the two had been trained to fly Boeing’s vehicle, not SpaceX’s. So they had to get trained up while they were on the International Space Station.
New spacesuits also had to be sent up because their Boeing spacesuits would not work in a SpaceX ship. All the while, Williams and Wilmore also took on the responsibilities of full space station crew members, helping with science experiments and ongoing maintenance of the orbiting lab. Williams even became its commander.
The wait is finally over. Williams was third to come through the hatch. Shortly after, Wilmore was helped out of the capsule.
The moment marked the long-awaited return of the two astronauts, who unexpectedly spent more than nine months on the International Space Station.
Astronaut Sunita Williams smiles after disembarking the Dragon capsule after a safe splashdown back to Earth, near Tallahassee, Fla., on Tuesday.Keegan Barber / NASA
Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore smiles after disembarking the Dragon capsule after a safe splashdown back to Earth, near Tallahassee, Fla., on Tuesday.Keegan Barber / NASA
Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov was the second person to be helped out of the Dragon capsule. Gorbunov is returning from his first spaceflight, having logged 171 days in orbit.
Cosmonaut Alexsandr Gorbunov smiles after disembarking the Dragon capsule after a safe splashdown back to Earth, near Tallahassee, Fla., on Tuesday.Keegan Barber / NASA
First out of the capsule was NASA astronaut Nick Hague. He smiled widely at the camera and offered waves and a thumbs-up.
Astronaut Nick Hague smiles after disembarking the Dragon capsule after a safe splashdown back to Earth, near Tallahassee, Fla., on Tuesday.Keegan Barber / NASA
The public just got the first views of the Crew-9 astronauts inside the Dragon capsule. All four crew members smiled and waved to the camera as they waited to be helped out of the spacecraft.
The Dragon spacecraft’s side hatch is now open, giving the astronauts their first breaths of fresh air since they launched into space many months ago.
Hague, Wilmore, Williams and Gorbunov will each be helped out of the Dragon capsule, then taken for medical exams. It is normal procedure for astronauts returning from long-duration missions to be assisted that way, because readjusting to Earth’s gravity environment can be rough on their bodies.
The Dragon spacecraft is out of the ocean and has settled into the “nest” on the deck of SpaceX’s recovery vessel.
Teams are now checking the exterior of the spacecraft before they open the hatch.
Some curious dolphins were among the first to welcome the Crew-9 astronauts back home, swimming playfully around the bobbing spacecraft in the ocean.
With SpaceX’s recovery vessel at the splashdown site, the Dragon capsule will get hoisted onto the deck of the boat.
Before the hatch is opened, crews will do a final inspection of the spacecraft to make sure no hazardous materials are present. After that, the astronauts will be assisted out of the capsule one by one. The process is expected to take up to an hour, according to SpaceX.
Medical checks will be performed before the astronauts board a helicopter to the airport. A NASA plane will fly the four crew members to the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where they will begin postflight operations.
Recovery teams are now making their way to the Dragon capsule. The main recovery vessel was positioned about 3 nautical miles away from the landing zone, which means it will take about 30 minutes for it to reach the astronauts.
In the meantime, high-speed boats were deployed to conduct initial safety checks of the space capsule before the recovery vessel arrives.
Live footage showed the charred Dragon spacecraft bobbing in the waters off the coast of Tallahassee.
The Crew-9 astronauts are home at last.
The Dragon capsule splashed down at 5:57 p.m. ET, landing off Tallahassee under beautiful blue skies.
“Nick, Aleks, Butch and Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” mission controllers radioed to the astronauts.
The Dragon capsule’s drogue parachutes deployed at about 5:54 p.m. ET. The parachutes will help slow the capsule as it prepares to splash down. The spacecraft’s four much larger main parachutes deployed roughly a minute later.
The first views of the Dragon capsule have been acquired. One of NASA’s high-altitude WB-57 airplanes captured video of the spacecraft streaming through Earth’s atmosphere, with a plasma trail behind it.
The Crew-9 astronauts are re-entering the atmosphere, which means the Dragon capsule is being exposed to extreme temperatures of around 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
During this time, mission controllers typically lose communication with the capsule because plasma builds up on the exterior of the spacecraft. The communications blackout is expected to last from 5:44 p.m. until 5:51 p.m. ET.
The SpaceX capsule in which the Crew-9 astronauts are flying home has made three previous trips to space.
SpaceX’s Dragon vehicles are reusable; this capsule, dubbed Freedom, first launched to the International Space Station in April 2022. It was then used for two private missions to the space station — one in May 2023 and another in January 2024.
The capsule’s most recent launch, on Sept. 28, carried NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, with two seats left empty so NASA astronauts Williams and Wilmore could return with them.
Reporting from Miami, Florida
During the undocking process, all four astronauts were seated and dressed in their spacesuits, but they were able to remove them once the capsule had backed a safe distance away from the International Space Station.
Their remaining hours in orbit were carefully choreographed. The astronauts had scheduled sleep time and even enjoyed some “off duty” time that they could spend as they liked, according to NASA.
At roughly 4 p.m. ET, the astronauts were scheduled to put their spacesuits back on and get seated again to prepare for their trip through Earth’s atmosphere.
Mission controllers confirmed that the de-orbit burn, which typically lasts around 7 minutes, was completed successfully.
The next few phases, from atmospheric re-entry through splashdown, will happen quickly.
The Dragon spacecraft’s de-orbit burn is underway, according to SpaceX and NASA officials.
The capsule is designed to fly autonomously, and the de-orbit burn is the last major maneuver before atmospheric re-entry and splashdown. During the burn, the spacecraft fires its thrusters to slow the vehicle from a cruising speed of about 17,500 mph and place it on a precise path to its splashdown site off Tallahassee, Florida.
At around 5:07 p.m. ET, SpaceX officials confirmed that the Dragon capsule had successfully jettisoned its trunk section in preparation to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft’s trunk is designed to gather energy from the sun and convert it to battery power, but it is no longer needed before landing.
Releasing the trunk also exposes the spacecraft’s heat shield, which is critical to protecting the vehicle and the astronauts from the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry.
The discarded trunk will eventually burn up in the atmosphere, according to SpaceX.
NASA has provided a map of the spacecraft’s landing trajectory, but it is likely to be challenging to see the Dragon capsule before it splashes down because its re-entry through the atmosphere is taking place during daylight hours.
The spacecraft will begin crossing over southern Mexico at around 5:45 p.m. ET. Depending on location, people could spot the capsule anywhere from 20 degrees to 90 degrees above the horizon.
It will then fly over the Gulf of Mexico before it splashed down off Tallahassee shortly after 5:50 p.m. ET.
Reporting from Miami, Florida
The Crew-9 astronauts departed the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. ET today, but they aren’t scheduled to splash down until around 5:57 p.m. ET.
The reason there are 17 hours between undocking and landing has to do with orbital mechanics, which describes the motion of objects in space under the influence of gravitational forces. When a spacecraft undocks from the space station and returns to Earth, it doesn’t simply “fall” straight down. Instead, a capsule orbiting at an altitude of around 260 miles needs to gradually lower its orbit to safely re-enter the atmosphere.
So over the course of 17 hours, the Dragon spacecraft fires its thrusters at specific times to slowly lower its altitude and place it on course to splash down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. A maneuver known as a deorbit burn will then help the spacecraft begin its fiery descent through Earth’s atmosphere. Once that happens, it will take less than an hour for the astronauts to finally make it home.
Despite spending the last nine months at an altitude of more than 200 miles above Earth, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have not been able to escape terrestrial politics.
Their unexpectedly long stay in orbit has become a political talking point for President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. On several occasions, Trump has made unsubstantiated claims that the Biden administration held up Williams and Wilmore’s return due to political reasons.
“This began when I asked Elon Musk to go up and get the abandoned Astronauts, because the Biden Administration was incapable of doing so,” Trump wrote Monday in a post on Truth Social. “They shamefully forgot about the Astronauts, because they considered it to be a very embarrassing event for them.”
Musk made similar claims in a joint interview with Trump on Fox News last month. The comments provoked a public spat on X between the tech billionaire and several current and retired astronauts.
Williams and Wilmore have maintained that they were never “stuck” or “stranded” in space. In a news briefing earlier this month, the duo carefully skirted the politics, with Wilmore saying they had “respect and admiration” for the president and “the utmost respect for Mr. Musk.”
As the Crew-9 astronauts make their way home, a new rotation of astronauts at the International Space Station are making themselves at home in low-Earth orbit.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov arrived at the space station on Sunday to relieve their outgoing colleagues. The crews overlapped for a couple of days during a routine handover period, so that the space station’s newest residents could get up to speed on science experiments, maintenance work and other ongoing projects.
Astronaut Nick Hague bid farewell to the International Space Station on X in a heartfelt post about his time at the orbiting laboratory.
“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,” he wrote Monday. “My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected.”
This latest mission was Hague’s second time visiting the space station.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ unexpectedly long stay at the International Space Station was just the latest episode in the veteran astronauts’ storied careers.
NASA selected Williams to be an astronaut in 1998, and she made her first trip to space in 2006 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. In 2012, Williams launched to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a four-month mission.
Wilmore was selected to be an astronaut in 2000 and logged his first spaceflight in 2009, launching to the space station on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. His second trip to space was aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a roughly six-month mission at the space station from 2014 to 2015.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are also returning home with Williams and Wilmore. Hague became an astronaut in 2013 and is wrapping up his second long-duration mission at the space station. He previously launched to the space station aboard a Soyuz capsule in 2019 and spent five months at the orbiting lab. Although Hague is completing his second spaceflight, the astronaut has actually launched three times: A rocket mishap in 2018 forced him and a Russian crewmate to abort their mission shortly after liftoff.
Gorbunov’s roughly six-month mission at the space station was his first trip to space. Before being selected as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked as a spacecraft engineer.
Starliner’s test flight in June marked its first time carrying human crew members to the International Space Station. The mission was meant to be the final hurdle before NASA could certify the Boeing spacecraft to make routine trips to and from the orbiting outpost.
But during the docking process, several thrusters on the spacecraft’s service module, which are used to move the capsule around in orbit, malfunctioned. There were also ongoing issues with helium leaks in Starliner’s propulsion system.
Engineers on the ground spent months scrambling to assess the problems, but NASA ultimately opted to bring the spacecraft back to Earth in September without anyone on board. In the fall, NASA officials said the agency was working with Boeing on modifications to Starliner’s thrusters.
Boeing developed the Starliner under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative launched in 2011 to support privately built space vehicles in order to fill the gap left by NASA’s retired space shuttles.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov departed the International Space Station early Tuesday at 1:05 a.m. ET.
They are in the process of spending nearly 17 hours in orbit, after which they’ll conduct what’s known as a deorbit burn at approximately 5:11 p.m. ET. During the burn, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule will fire its thrusters to slow the vehicle down from a cruising speed of about 17,500 mph. Then the spacecraft will be ready for a fiery hot plunge through Earth’s atmosphere.
The astronauts are scheduled to splash down off the coast of Florida at approximately 5:57 p.m. ET. SpaceX’s recovery teams will be nearby to retrieve the reusable capsule and its passengers after their long-duration stay in orbit.
Later this evening, NASA will host a post-splashdown media briefing at 7:30 p.m. ET that will air on NASA TV.
