Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were safely brought home after 286 days in space.
Following splashdown, the four space explorers were video recorded in what was described as “a capsule full of grins” during NASA’s livestream of the recovery. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom capsule safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday evening, bringing astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams home after the two spent 286 days in space aboard the International Space Station.
The two were joined by Crew-9 NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who were also aboard the ISS during Wilmore and Williams’ stay.
The spacecraft returned to Earth at the scheduled splashdown time of 5:57 p.m. EDT, and NASA teams aboard Recovery Vessel Megan began the recovery process shortly after.
Wilmore and Williams were left aboard the ISS for an extended stay after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft encountered helium leaks and thruster malfunctions during a week-long test flight to the station last year.
In September, the uncrewed Starliner returned to Earth autonomously while the two astronauts were left on the station.
Following splashdown, the four space explorers were video recorded in what was described as “a capsule full of grins” during NASA’s livestream of the recovery.
All four astronauts were safely extracted from the capsule and transported to the recovery ship’s medical facilities for examination.
NASA stated during its livestream that the astronauts will be flown by helicopter to shore in Tallahassee, Florida, then transferred to an aircraft to fly home to Houston.
