The White House said the safe return of astronauts to the U.S. Gulf is attributed to Elon Musk’s safe return.
Commitment, Commitment: President Trump promises to rescue astronauts stranded in space for nine months.
Elon Musk congratulated NASA and SpaceX teams on their successful return and thanked Trump for prioritizing the mission.
Earlier in the day, NASA Crew-9 astronauts breathed the world’s air for the first time in nine months after SpaceX’s Dragon capsule successfully splashed. CNN reported that astronauts disembarked on stretchers. SpaceX takes this precaution against all astronauts returning from long-term space missions.
CNN reported delays caused by problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which surfaced in a test flight last summer, piloted by Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, causing the astronaut duo to stay in space for nine months instead of a week.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 completed the agency’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday and splashed safely into the U.S. Gulf at SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft on the west coast of Tallahasse, Florida, U.S., a statement from NASA said.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth at 5:57 pm EDT. SpaceX restores the crew on board to retrieve the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, astronauts will head to NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston to reunite with their families.
“We are excited to bring Suni, Butch, Nick and Aleksandr home after the months-long mission to carry out crucial science, technology demonstration and ISS maintenance,” said Janet Petro, Acting Director of NASA.
“According to President Trump’s instructions, NASA and SpaceX worked hard a month ago. International staff and our team accepted the Trump administration’s challenges to the updated, some unique mission plans to bring our staff home. Through preparation, sophistication and dedication, we bring great things to the interests of humanity, making the interests of humanity promote the interests of humanity, allowing ourselves to enjoy the situation of Nobill and be able to stand out from the planet.
Hague and Gorbunov boarded the SpaceX Falcon 9 Rockets on September 28, 2024 on the SpaceX Falcon 9 Rockets at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The next day, they docked at the front port of the station Harmony module.
Williams and Wilmore launched on June 5, 2024, and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and Space Punains Punains Complex 41’s joint launch alliance Atlas V Rocket is part of the agency’s Boeing crew flight test. They arrived at the space station on June 6, 2024. In August, NASA decided to return Starliner and integrate into Starliner for Wilmore and Williams and into 71/72 for a return via Crew-9.
The crew of four evacuated at 1:05 a.m. Tuesday to begin their journey home.
During the mission, Williams and Wilmore traveled 121,347,491 miles, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth. The Hague and Gorbunov traveled 72,553,920 miles, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits.
NASA said the mission was Gorbunov’s first space flight, and The Hague has now recorded 374 days in space on both missions, Williams on 608 days on three flights and Wilmore on three flights for 464 days.
Throughout the mission, Crew-9 contributed to scientific research, maintenance activities and technical demonstrations. Williams did two space walks, one with the assistance of Wilmore, and the Hague for the other. The crew removed a radio frequency group antenna assembly, collected samples from outside the station, installed patches on the X-ray telescope light filter, and more.
Williams now has a record of total spacewalk time for a female astronaut, with 62 hours and 6 minutes outside the station, ranking fourth on the historical space trip duration list, NASA said.
The American crew conducted more than 150 scientific experiments and technical demonstrations, contributing more than 900 hours of research. Their work includes research on plant growth, stem cell technology for treating diseases, circadian lighting systems, and the survival of microorganisms in space. They also loaded and deployed the first wooden satellite for space research.
The CREW-9 mission is the fourth flight of the Dragon Spacecraft called Freedom, which previously supported NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4, Axiom Mission 2 and Axiom Mission 3. The spacecraft will now be inspected and renovated at SpaceX Cape Canaveral facility for future missions at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral facility.
After NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 was launched, the return of CREW-9 was docked with the station on March 16, starting another long-term mission.
NASA’s Commercial Staff Program is designed to provide safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and Low Earth Orbit. NASA added that the program increases research opportunities on ISS, supporting NASA’s broader targets for humans to the moon and Mars.
