Wed Mar 19 21:00:00 UTC 2025: **Stranded NASA Astronauts Return to Earth After Nine-Month Odyssey**
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Two NASA astronauts, Barry Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, concluded a nine-month unplanned stay in space with a successful splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday. Their return followed the arrival of a replacement crew aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on Sunday.
Wilmore and Williams launched in June 2024 on a Boeing Starliner capsule for what was intended to be a week-long mission. However, technical issues with the Starliner, including helium leaks and problems with thrusters, forced a prolonged stay. After an unsuccessful attempt to return the Starliner, the astronauts were transferred to a SpaceX Dragon, resulting in further delays.
The arrival of the Crew-10 mission on Sunday, aboard another SpaceX Dragon, allowed for a crew exchange at the International Space Station (ISS). The returning crew, which also included NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, landed safely, with Hague reporting the astronauts were “grinning ear to ear.”
NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Joel Montalbano addressed claims by former President Trump and Elon Musk that the Biden administration had delayed the return for political reasons. Montalbano stated he was uninvolved in any conversations with the previous administration and that the current administration’s request resulted in the astronauts’ return.
The journey back to Earth took approximately 17 hours, following several orbit-lowering maneuvers and the jettisoning of the Dragon capsule’s trunk. The successful mission marks the tenth operational human spaceflight mission for SpaceX under NASA’s commercial crew program.
First Piper 