NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov have successfully splashed down in the Gulf of America, off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida.
Hague and Gorbunov have been at the International Space Station since Sept. 29, 2024, while Williams and Wilmore arrived on June 6. This completes a stay in space of 171 days for Hague and Gorbunov and 286 days for Williams and Wilmore.
Their homecoming comes nearly 300 days after the NASA astronauts arrived in space aboard the Starliner spacecraft for what was supposed to be an eight-day stay. However, due to various technical issues with the Boeing spacecraft—including a helium leak that began not long after their June launch—NASA decided to send the vehicle back down without the crew.
Upon resolution of the technical issues, the SpaceX Crew-9 started their journey back home and arrived today, Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
NASA and SpaceX’s official X accounts confirmed the safe arrival with footage of the capsule splashdown at around 6:00 p.m. local time. The video showed the capsule with four white and orange parachutes deployed gently landing and resting upright in the ocean.
Watch the video of the re-entry and share your thoughts below!