The four-member Crew-9 mission, comprising NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, and Butch Wilmore, along with Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned safely to Earth after spending nine months in space.
Their spacecraft, the SpaceX Dragon, splashed down in the Gulf of America on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump, celebrating the success of the mission, attributed the safe return to the concerted efforts of NASA, SpaceX, and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
“PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months. Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to Elon Musk, SpaceX, and NASA!” the White House posted on X.
Elon Musk, acknowledging the efforts of the teams involved, remarked, “Congratulations to the SpaceX and NASA teams for another safe astronaut return! Thank you to Donald Trump for prioritising this mission!”
The mission had been prolonged due to complications with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, initially intended to return Williams and Wilmore after a brief stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA’s decision to return Starliner uncrewed led to their prolonged stay in orbit, integrating them into Expedition 71/72.
Hague and Gorbunov, who launched later as part of Crew-9, completed their mission alongside them.
Janet Petro, acting Administrator of NASA, expressed relief and gratitude following the mission’s completion.
“We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick, and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the International Space Station,” she said.
She further noted, “Per President Trump’s direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier. This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration’s challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan, to bring our crew home.”
The astronauts, upon their return, were assisted out of the capsule on stretchers, a standard precaution following extended space missions.
Recovery teams aboard SpaceX vessels retrieved the Dragon spacecraft and its occupants before transferring them to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
During their mission, Williams and Wilmore spent 286 days in space, completing 4,576 orbits around Earth and travelling 121 million miles. Hague and Gorbunov, in comparison, spent 171 days, completing 2,736 orbits and covering 72 million miles.
This marked Gorbunov’s maiden spaceflight, while the American crew members added significantly to their spaceflight records. Williams now holds the record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut, with 62 hours and 6 minutes outside the ISS.
The astronauts engaged in over 150 scientific experiments and technological demonstrations, contributing 900 hours of research in areas such as plant growth, stem cell technology, and circadian lighting systems.
Notably, they facilitated the launch of the first wooden satellite for research purposes.
Crew-9’s return paves the way for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10, which arrived at the ISS on March 16 for another long-duration mission.
The agency’s Commercial Crew Programme aims to sustain reliable astronaut transport to the ISS, furthering NASA’s broader objectives of human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
With the Crew-9 mission now concluded, the Dragon spacecraft ‘Freedom’ will undergo inspection and refurbishment at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral facility for future missions.
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