SpaceX Gets Astronauts Home

For over 9 months, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore, 62, and Suni Williams, 59, were stranded and living on the International Space Station (ISS). Tuesday, the pair, Crew-9, was returned to Earth after the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, “Freedom,” retrieved them over the weekend and brought them home.

Crew-9 arrived at the ISS in June 2024 and was supposed to stay in space no longer than 10 days, but their return was delayed when the Boeing Starliner spacecraft had mechanical issues including “helium leaks” and “issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters,” which led to it being sent back to Earth without them.

After 286 days in space, Butch and Suni splashed down about 5:57 p.m. in the Gulf of America, off the coast of Tallahassee, FL and were greeted by a pod of dolphins.

By - FZ