Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore Returned to Earth on Tuesday

After 9 months aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The pair launched to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on its inaugural crewed flight on June 5, but problems with the capsule’s maneuvering thrusters caused NASA to return Starliner uncrewed months later, leaving the two astronauts aboard the ISS. The returning crew of four was rounded out by Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov and landed just before 6 p.m. EDT on Tuesday off the coast of Florida.

“The NSS appreciates the caution and respect for safety which NASA has demonstrated throughout the testing of Starliner. Crew safety is priority number one, and using the Starliner crew to staff the ISS was a sensible plan,” said Dale Skran, NSS COO. “We look forward to future successful tests of Starliner to support redundant access to both the ISS and future commercial LEO space stations.”

Williams and Wilmore had expected an approximately 8-10 day stay at the orbiting outpost, but after an in-depth analysis of thruster anomalies aboard Starliner by both NASA and Boeing, the space agency decided to return Starliner without the crew in September. Thus began a 286-day stay aboard the space station. Despite not having packed for months in space, Williams and Wilmore quickly adapted to the change in scheduling and were soon in the rotation of duties aboard the ISS, including the extensive maintenance schedule and various research projects. Notably, at no time were their lives imperiled—the ISS has ample reserves to cover just such an unexpected event. “We came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short,” said Wilmore in a press event from the space station.

To the delight of social media, the Johnson Space Center media team posted video of a pod of dolphins swimming near the capsule after splashdown. “Crew-9 had some surprise visitors after splashing down this afternoon,” the post said, lauding the “the unplanned welcome crew!”

The final launch date was in flux as NASA and SpaceX worked to resolve scheduling issues, including a delay in the newest (and final) Crew Dragon capsule. It was ultimately decided to instead use a previously flown Crew Dragon for the recent launch—a testament to the utility of reusing spacecraft.