‘Stranded’ Astronauts Return to Earth After 9 Months in House

After a headline-making 9 months in area, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have lastly made it again to Earth.

On Tuesday, March 18  the pair began their journey again dwelling alongside fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The profitable splashdown got here hours after the astronauts, referred to as SpaceX Crew-9, undocked from the Worldwide House Station “proper on time” at 1:05 a.m. ET.

NASA and SpaceX’s official X accounts confirmed the secure arrival with footage of the splashdown at round 6:00 p.m. native time.

“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome again to Earth, Nick, Suni, Butch, and Aleks!” SpaceX wrote.

NASA added, “Splashdown confirmed! #Crew9 is now again on Earth of their @SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.”

A press convention for SpaceX Crew-9 is predicted to be held on Tuesday round 7:30 p.m. native time.

This newest launch comes after a brand new crew arrived on the ISS on Friday, March 14, to take over.

The brand new crew, a part of a joint SpaceX and NASA mission, consists of astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, together with mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Company) astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

By no means miss a narrative — join PEOPLE’s free every day e-newsletter to remain up-to-date on the perfect of what PEOPLE has to supply, from movie star information to driving human curiosity tales.

Wilmore and Williams’ return comes after 9 months in orbit and several other delays to return them dwelling. The pair arrived on the ISS in June 2024, initially anticipated to remain in area for not more than 10 days.

Nevertheless, after their spacecraft encountered mechanical points, their return was delayed. After weeks of troubleshooting, the spacecraft was despatched again to Earth with out them. Since then, their return dwelling has regularly been pushed again and develop into politically charged, with President Donald Trump blaming their prolonged keep in area on his predecessor.

In the meantime, Hague and Gorbunov arrived on the ISS in September.

All through their prolonged keep in area, the astronauts celebrated a number of holidays, together with Thanksgiving and Christmas — and the Individuals even voted within the 2024 U.S. elections.

Each Williams and Wilmore have additionally spoken out about spending so many months on the ISS.

Talking with a bunch of Needham Excessive College college students in January, Williams stated that it got here “just a little little bit of a shock.”

“We knew that it might be most likely a month or so, actually. However the prolonged keep was just a bit bit completely different,” she stated, in line with WBZ-TV. “I have not walked. I have not sat down. I have not laid down. You do not have to. You’ll be able to simply shut your eyes and float the place you might be proper right here.”

Weeks later, Wilmore instructed CNN‘s Anderson Cooper that regardless of the “stranded” rhetoric, they have not felt “deserted.”

“We don’t really feel caught, we don’t really feel stranded,” he stated.

“If you happen to’ll assist us change the rhetoric, assist us change the narrative, let’s change it to ‘ready and dedicated,’ ” he continued. “That’s what we want.”

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is right here! How shortly are you able to remedy it? Play now!

Williams echoed the emotions in a separate press convention earlier this month. “Daily is attention-grabbing as a result of we’re up in area and it is a whole lot of enjoyable,” she stated. “The toughest half is having the oldsters on the bottom need to not know precisely after we’re coming again.”