March 18 (UPI) -- Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were stranded at the International Space Station for nine months after they were forced to abandon their Boeing Starliner due to thruster issues, are finally back on Earth after splashing down Tuesday at 5:57 p.m. EDT off the gulf coast of Florida.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule flew "autonomously" before drogue parachutes, deployed at 18,000 feet, slowed the capsule to 119 mph. The spacecraft coasted to a successful splashdown minutes later.
"And splashdown! Crew-9 back on Earth! Butch and Suni, on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home!" was the call from mission control, which erupted in loud cheers as recovery boats headed toward the floating capsule.
The two Starliner astronauts made the more than 17-hour journey from ISS inside SpaceX Dragon with Crew-9 members NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who spent the last six months at the space station.
The gulf side of Florida, near Tallahassee, was chosen for Tuesday's splashdown due to its favorable weather conditions. Dragon's deorbit burn was completed just 34 minutes before splashdown and its nosecone was closed.
Williams, Wilmore, Hague and Gorbunov undocked from ISS early Tuesday morning after conducting a series of leak inspections to ensure the safety of the spacecraft and their spacesuits.
The crew splashed down one day earlier than NASA had targeted due to "favorable conditions forecast for the evening of Tuesday," according to the space agency, which expressed concerns about weather conditions later in the week.
Williams and Wilmore launched the first crewed test flight of Starliner, which Boeing had hoped would become a second vehicle for NASA, on June 5. They were scheduled to spend just eight days at ISS before heading back to Earth.
As Starliner approached the space station, five of the capsule's thrusters malfunctioned and delayed the capsule's docking. Helium leaks were also discovered in Starliner's propulsion system. NASA returned Starliner to Earth unmanned in September after it was deemed too risky to carry the astronauts.
SpaceX Dragon docked to ISS on Sunday with Crew-10 NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov as they begin a six-month mission to conduct science experiments.
Williams and Wilmore spent 286 days in space, which is among the longest single space missions in NASA history. The longest, with the record of 371 days, is held by astronaut Frank Rubio.
During her time on ISS, Williams conducted two spacewalks, which pushed her total spacewalk hours to more than 62, which is a new NASA record for total spacewalking time by a woman. This was her third visit to ISS.
Wilmore served as part of Expedition 41 to ISS in 2014. This was his second visit to the space station.
Both Williams and Wilmore have claimed they were not "stranded" in space, but found their extended stay on ISS "interesting."
"Every day is interesting because we're up in space and it's a lot of fun," Williams said.