SpaceX Dragon, carrying NASA's stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, safely splashes down on Earth.
According to CNN, the Crew-9 team, including NASA’s Wilmore, Williams and Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, safely touched down off the coast of Florida just before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday evening, March 18, 2025.
NASA communications officer Sandra Jones, while commenting on livestream, announced, “And splashdown. Crew-9 back on Earth.”
Related: NASA astronauts stuck in space for nine months finally returning home
Mission Control greeted the crew, saying, “Nick, Alek, Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home.”
After the capsule landed off the Florida coast, it was lifted out of the ocean and has been brought on board the recovery ship.
Williams and Willmore could be seen excited and happy as they offered big smiles and waves to the camera after finally returning to the earth after nine months of an unplanned space mission, which is officially the sixth longest mission in the history of NASA.
The astronauts will now undergo medical checks to make sure that there are no medical emergencies. After clearing the medical checkups, the Crew-9 team will travel to Florida airport via helicopter, where they will board a flight to Houston’s Ellington Field.
Related: SpaceX capsule docks with ISS to bring home stranded NASA astronauts
