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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely returned to Earth on Tuesday, splashing down off Florida’s coast in a SpaceX capsule after a prolonged nine-month mission that was originally meant to last just a week.
The two astronauts had launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June for what was intended to be an eight-day test mission. However, serious issues with the spacecraft’s propulsion system led to repeated delays in their return, ultimately forcing NASA to integrate them into its regular crew rotation. Their extended stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) turned into a highly publicised event, drawing global and political attention to the latest failures of Boeing’s Starliner program.
Early Tuesday morning, Wilmore and Williams boarded the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft alongside two other astronauts and undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. ET (0505 GMT), beginning a 17-hour journey back to Earth. As part of NASA’s Crew-9 astronaut rotation mission, they re-entered the atmosphere at high speed before deploying heat shields and parachutes to slow their descent. The capsule made a soft splashdown at 5:57 p.m. ET, landing approximately 50 miles off Florida’s Gulf Coast under clear skies.
“What a ride,” NASA astronaut and Crew-9 mission commander Nick Hague said after landing. “I see a capsule full of grins, ear to ear.”
The astronauts will now undergo routine health checks at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston before reuniting with their families.
“They will get some well-deserved time off, well-deserved time with their families,” said NASA’s Commercial Crew Program chief Steve Stich. “It’s been a long time for them.”
Their delayed return caught the attention of US President Donald Trump, who, upon taking office in January, called for their expedited return and accused the previous administration—without evidence—of leaving them stranded for political reasons. In response, NASA accelerated the Crew-9 replacement mission by swapping in a ready SpaceX capsule and streamlining its safety review process.
Trump told Fox News on Tuesday that Wilmore and Williams will visit the Oval Office once they have recovered from their mission. However, Wilmore had previously stated from the ISS that he did not believe politics played a role in NASA’s decision to extend their stay.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
The post NASA Astronauts Butch and Suni Return to Earth After Extended Space Mission appeared first on Arise News.
