Tue Mar 18 11:53:04 UTC 2025: ## Stranded Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore Return to Earth After 9-Month ISS Stay

**Cape Canaveral, FL** – Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore splashed down off the coast of Florida early Wednesday morning, concluding a nine-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) that extended far beyond its initial plans. The two astronauts departed the ISS at 10:35 am IST on Tuesday, aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, and completed their 17-hour journey back to Earth.

Williams and Wilmore launched to the ISS in June 2024 for what was intended to be a short test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. However, propulsion problems with the Starliner rendered it unfit for return, stranding the astronauts. They were subsequently integrated into the NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission, joining NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who arrived in September 2024. A relief team, Crew-10, docked with the ISS on Sunday to facilitate their return.

Their extended stay, surpassing the typical six-month rotation, sparked a political controversy. President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk alleged that the previous administration, under President Joe Biden, abandoned the astronauts and ignored earlier rescue attempts. Trump claimed on Truth Social that the Biden administration “shamefully forgot” about the astronauts. Musk also claimed to have offered Biden a separate rescue mission.

While their mission duration ranks sixth among US single-mission records, falling short of Frank Rubio’s 371-day record set in 2023 and far behind Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov’s world record of 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir space station, Williams and Wilmore’s experience highlights the challenges and unexpected events that can occur during long-duration space missions. The astronauts’ return was met with relief and marked the end of a saga that transcended scientific achievement to encompass a significant political debate.

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