‘PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT’: White House on return of Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore to Earth
ByHT News Desk
Mar 19, 2025 05:36 AM IST
President Donald Trump, on January 28, 2025, said that he had directed Elon Musk to retrieve NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the ISS.
The White House on Wednesday said President Donald Trump’s promise to rescue astronauts stranded in space for nine months has been fulfilled, with the crew safely splashing down in the Gulf of America, thanking SpaceX, NASA, and Elon Musk.
NASA astronaut Suni Williams gives a thumbs-up after being helped out of a SpaceX capsule onboard the SpaceX recovery ship Megan after landing in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Fla., Tuesday, March 18, 2025. ((Keegan Barber/NASA via AP))
NASA astronaut Suni Williams gives a thumbs-up after being helped out of a SpaceX capsule onboard the SpaceX recovery ship Megan after landing in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Fla., Tuesday, March 18, 2025. ((Keegan Barber/NASA via AP))
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore spent 286 days in space, far exceeding their original plan by 278 days. Throughout their journey, they orbited Earth 4,576 times and covered a distance of 121 million miles (195 million kilometers) before returning home.
Follow all live updates on Sunita Williams' return here
“PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months. Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA!” White House said in a post on X.
On January 28, 2025, President Donald Trump said he told Elon Musk and SpaceX to retrieve two astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS).
In a Truth Social post, he wrote, “I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration. They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”
This was about Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been there since June 2024, with a SpaceX return already set for late March 2025.
The two NASA astronauts, along with American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, made a successful splashdown off the coast of Florida at 5:57 pm ET on Tuesday (3:27 am IST, Wednesday).
The four-member Crew-10 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) early on Sunday, where they replaced Wilmore and Williams.
“On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” SpaceX Mission Control in California communicated.
“What a ride,” replied NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander of the capsule.
The astronauts will be taken to their crew quarters at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for a few days of health assessments, as part of the standard procedure for astronaut returns.
They will be cleared by NASA flight surgeons before being allowed to reunite with their families.
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