SPLASHDOWN! Crew 9 quartet crew returns to Earth with two Boeing Starliner astronauts after their extended stay
FLORIDA, USA — After a precautionary but nominal mission extension aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX teams have successfully returned the Crew 9 mission to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. Splashdown occurred on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at 5:57 p.m. in the Gulf of Mexico, also recently called the Gulf of America. The return trip includes NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, the two astronauts who rode on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft on their way to the ISS, as well as NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the two original crew for this mission. They stayed in the station for a duration ranging from seven to nine months, the maximum being experienced by the astronauts from the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
With the Starliner spacecraft experiencing technical issues such as propulsion system leaks, NASA decided to return Butch and Sunny to Crew 9, which brings us to this day. Choosing between the two of the original four people on this mission allowed them to free seats for the two astronauts for their future return to Earth. Despite the extended stay, this was all part of the procedure and was expected, just like a typical astronaut stay on the ISS. Instead of being a mere week, they just decided to go full-on with this mission. To match mission timelines, they extended the mission even further to match mission timelines and rotations, a very normal occurrence on the ISS rather than the so-called “stranded crew” that some media has been saying.
From undocking to splashdown
After Crew-10’s recent arrival at the orbiting laboratory 2 days ago, plans and preparations were already set for the return of the Crew 9 mission, part of its procedures for crew rotation. At 11:05 PM Eastern Time (ET), the Dragon spacecraft’s hatch was closed in preparation for undocking procedures. Exactly 2 hours later, at 1:05 a.m. ET, the Dragon spacecraft flew by itself as it undocked itself from the orbiting laboratory. It did its subsequent phasing burn as it headed off for its trip back to Earth.
At 5:07 PM ET, SpaceX confirmed that the Dragon's trunk had been jettisoned, following it's deorbit burn soon after. 16 minutes later, at 5:23 PM ET, they completed the re-entry burn and closed the nosecone in preparation for re-entry. After an expected loss of signal during re-entry, re-acquisition of the signal was confirmed at 5:53 PM ET. Four drogue parachutes were deployed a minute later, followed by the four main parachutes. As the Dragon slowly descended into the atmosphere, it splashed down at 5:57 p.m. ET — a successful end to the mission.
Recovery operations are still underway, but the crew is already safe and sound in the ocean within their spacecraft. You can watch the live stream of their recovery operations on NASA and SpaceX’s official social media pages.
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