US astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams are finally headed back to Earth after 9 months stranded in space
SUMMARY
On March 18, 2025, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore, 62, and Sunita Williams, 59, commenced their return to Earth from the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule “Freedom,” following an extended nine-month mission. The capsule undocked at 1:05 a.m. ET, with a scheduled splashdown off Florida’s coast at approximately 5:57 p.m. ET, as confirmed by NASA. Accompanied by Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of the Crew 9 mission, the astronauts’ initial 10-day assignment in June 2024 was prolonged due to technical failures in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, necessitating its unmanned return. Under President Donald Trump’s administration, SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, efficiently facilitated their repatriation after Crew 10’s arrival on March 16. Trump’s leadership and Musk’s innovative enterprise overcame delays attributed to the prior Biden administration, which Musk has criticized as politically motivated—a claim Biden officials refute.
