Cape Canaveral, March 19 — NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, ending an unplanned nine-month space mission caused by a botched Boeing test flight.
Their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the early evening—just hours after leaving the International Space Station (ISS). Dolphins circled the capsule as divers secured it for hoisting onto the recovery ship.
Once aboard, the astronauts were helped out one by one. Wilmore, the last to exit, flashed two gloved thumbs-up. “On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” Mission Control in California radioed. “What a ride,” replied Nick Hague, the capsule’s commander. “I see a capsule full of grins ear to ear.”
Wilmore and Williams were originally slated for a week-long trip aboard Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule, which launched on June 5. However, a series of technical failures forced NASA to send the Starliner back to Earth empty and transfer the astronauts to SpaceX’s capsule. Additional technical issues with SpaceX delayed their return further.
After the arrival of a relief crew on Sunday, NASA gave the go-ahead for their early departure, anticipating bad weather later in the week. The replacement crew, including NASA’s Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov, had arrived last fall in a SpaceX capsule, leaving two empty seats reserved for the stranded duo.
By the time they splashed down, Wilmore and Williams had spent 286 days in space—278 days longer than planned. They circled Earth 4,576 times and traveled 121 million miles (195 million kilometers).
During their extended mission, they transitioned from temporary guests to full-fledged ISS crew members, conducting experiments, repairing equipment, and even performing spacewalks. Williams logged 62 hours over nine spacewalks, setting a record for the most career spacewalking time by a female astronaut.
Their ordeal, which made “Butch and Suni” household names, became a symbol of resilience, giving new meaning to the phrase “stuck at work.”
