Stranded Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Safely Splash Down in SpaceX Capsule After 9 Months on ISS
The US astronauts stranded on the International Space Station joyfully emerged from their rescue capsule following a dramatic but smooth return to Earth Tuesday — months after their days-long jaunt in orbit turned into a headline-grabbing space odyssey.
Butch Wilmore, 62, and 59-year-old Suni Williams splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Fla., aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule just before 6 p.m. EST Tuesday, concluding a nine-month stint in space that was supposed to last just eight days when it launched in June 2024.
“Butch, Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” a mission-control dispatcher radioed the crew moments after the capsule Dragon Freedom splashed down.
Less than an hour later, the duo — along with American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov — were extracted from the capsule onboard a recovery vessel, and each was filmed beaming, waving and pumping their fists as they were helped to their feet and whisked away on wheelchairs.
The stranded astronauts conducted around 150 experiments — about 900 hours worth — during their extra time in space, which will be instrumental in the future of human space travel, Joel Montalbano, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for space operations told reporters after the safe splashdown. (Read more from “Stranded Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Safely Splash Down in SpaceX Capsule After 9 Months on ISS” HERE)
