Update, 6:54 p.m.: All three astronauts and the cosmonaut are out of the capsule and on their way for medical evaluation.
Update, 6:38 p.m.: The side hatch is open. All that's left is to help the crew out of the capsule.
Update, 6:25 p.m.: Dragon Freedom is officially aboard recovery vessel Megan.
Update, 6:20 p.m.: A pod of dolphins swam up to Dragon Freedom out of curiosity.
Update, 6:06 p.m.: Recovery crews are "rigging" Dragon Freedom to prepare to bring it onto the recovery vessel Megan.
Update, 5:57 p.m.: Splashdown has occurred. Dragon Freedom is home!
Update, 5:54 p.m.: The main chutes have deployed.
Update, 5:53 p.m: The drogue chutes have deployed.
Update, 5:51 p.m.: Dragon Freedom is out of communications blackout.
Update, 5:45 p.m.: Communications blackout is underway.
Update, 5:20 p.m.: The deorbit burn is complete, which means that reentry is coming up next!
Original article:
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally returned home to terra firma after nearly a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS). My friend and colleague Stephen Green has done a tremendous job chronicling the two astronauts’ predicament.
Here’s a link to the live broadcast of their return to Earth. The broadcast is set to begin at 4:45 p.m. Eastern:
And here’s some background on their story. Earlier this month, Stephen wrote:
Butch and Suni flew to the International Space Station last June as part of Boeing Starliner's Crew Flight Test (CFT) to certify the spaceship for routine manned missions. Problems with the service module's thrusters developed during ISS docking and, after weeks of tests, NASA decided to return Starliner to Earth unmanned, and juggle the crew schedule so that Suni and Butch could return on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with empty seats.
And Another Thing: For what it's worth, Starliner returned safely to Earth, and had there been astronauts aboard, they would not have been in any danger. However, no more CFT missions have been scheduled, and Boeing has yet to say whether they've solved the thruster issues. With ISS tentatively scheduled to be de-orbited in 2030 (or sooner), the Starliner might never fly again.
They were originally scheduled to stay on ISS for eight to 10 days but, as of this writing, have been there for 243 days. For their part, Butch and Suni seem to love it up in the ISS and, aside perhaps from the hardship of being away from their families for eight or nine extra months, are enjoying one last long-term orbital stay. They're seriously into this astronaut stuff.
Add an extra 11 days to Williams' and Wilmore’s stay aboard the ISS, and you can imagine how eager they are to get home. We also now know that the Biden administration refused to allow SpaceX to rescue the astronauts.
They’re returning with astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. Hague took to X to express his gratitude for the privilege of spending time on the ISS. (I have to admit as someone who has immersed himself in NASA history, including the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, that it's weird to think of sharing space on the ISS with a Russian cosmonaut.)
It’s been a privilege to call the @Space_Station home, to play my part in its 25-year legacy of doing research for humanity, and to work with colleagues, now friends, from around the globe. My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected. pic.twitter.com/80jJ0Zn1sM
— Nick Hague (@AstroHague) March 17, 2025
Crew-9 successfully undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday morning:
Watch Dragon depart the @Space_Station and return to Earth with the Crew-9 astronauts → https://t.co/ZZEmGU8Aar https://t.co/kWcj6rvu1V
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2025
Their reentry trajectory is taking them over the Gulf of America (ain’t it fun to say that?):
#Crew9 will be difficult to spot in the daytime as it reenters Earth's atmosphere, but if you want to keep an eye out for @SpaceX's Dragon as it heads home today, we have the map for you. pic.twitter.com/dGmSWXbOyv
— NASA (@NASA) March 18, 2025
There were rumors floating around that President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO (and the guy who seems to be everywhere these days) Elon Musk would greet them, but I haven't seen confirmation yet.
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