Accordingly, the capsule carrying four astronauts, including Butch Wilmore, 62, and Suni Williams, 59, who had been “stuck” on the ISS for the past 9 months, landed safely in the waters off Tallahassee in the US state of Florida, just before 6 p.m. (Eastern US time) on March 18, ending the 17-hour return journey from the ISS by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft.

The return of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams comes 278 days later than originally planned, after they first arrived at the ISS in June 2024 on a Boeing Starliner spacecraft on a test mission for the spacecraft. However, NASA discovered multiple problems, including a helium leak and a thruster failure, that made the spacecraft unsafe to return them.

In addition to Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, there were American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

In September 2024, NASA decided to let Starliner fly back to Earth, leaving astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to wait for a replacement flight. This extended mission has attracted international attention.

On March 18, 2025, after the capsule successfully landed, rescue teams quickly arrived to take them out. In addition to Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, there were also American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

The group will soon be flown to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, home of NASA's manned spaceflight program, where they will spend several days being evaluated by doctors and recovering from months in zero gravity.