Video: The moment SpaceX Crew Dragon carrying Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore splashed down
ByHT News Desk | Written by Lingamgunta Nirmitha Rao
Mar 19, 2025 06:27 AM IST
Sunita Williams, Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Aleksandr Gorbunov parachuted down and safely landed off Florida’s coast around 6 pm New York time on Tuesday.
A 36-second video shared by SpaceX captured the moment SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule splashed down on Earth, carrying NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been stranded in space for nine months.
A video shared by SpaceX captured the moment SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule splashed down on Earth.(X/SpaceX)
A video shared by SpaceX captured the moment SpaceX's Crew-9 capsule splashed down on Earth.(X/SpaceX)
The two NASA astronauts spent 286 days in orbit before finally returning to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, marking the end of a prolonged mission that drew global attention and highlighted a setback for Boeing Co.’s space program.
Williams and Wilmore, along with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, descended under parachutes before safely landing off the Florida coast around 6pm New York time on Tuesday (3:30 am IST on Wednesday).
“And splashdown, Crew-9 back on Earth!” announced Sandra Jones on the official live stream, as cheers and applause erupted in mission control. “On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home.”
“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, Nick, Suni, Butch, and Aleks!” SpaceX ‘X’ handle wrote.
Video here
What happened just after that?
Shortly after splashdown, recovery crews rushed in boats to inspect the scorched Crew-9 capsule, which floated in calm waters as a pod of dolphins swam nearby. The spacecraft was then hoisted onto a recovery vessel, and the astronauts began exiting one by one. Around 2.4 million viewers tuned into SpaceX’s livestream to witness the moment.
Williams and Wilmore smiled and waved as they were moved on stretchers for routine medical evaluations. If everything goes as expected, they will soon be cleared to fly to Houston to reunite with their families.
Extended missions are always a possibility for NASA astronauts. The agency has previously prolonged astronaut stays on the International Space Station due to schedule adjustments or technical delays.
“We came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short,” Wilmore said in a press conference from space earlier. “That’s what we do in human spaceflight.”
No more stuck
No longer stranded in space, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally returned to Earth on Tuesday, wrapping up a mission that began with a botched test flight more than nine months ago.
Their SpaceX capsule made a parachute-assisted landing in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday evening, just hours after leaving the International Space Station (ISS). The splashdown occurred off Tallahassee’s coast in the Florida Panhandle, marking the end of their unexpectedly prolonged stay.
Within an hour of landing, both astronauts exited the capsule, smiling and waving at the cameras before being escorted on reclining stretchers for standard medical evaluations.
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a letter to Sunita Williams, stating that the nation’s people were “praying for your good health and success in your mission.”
The extended mission began with Boeing’s troubled test flight last spring. Wilmore and Williams launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5, expecting to spend about a week in space. However, technical issues arose during the journey to the ISS, leading NASA to send the Starliner back empty and reassign the astronauts to SpaceX for their return trip.
Initially set for a February return, further delays due to SpaceX capsule issues postponed their homecoming by another month. NASA’s decision in August to bring them home on a rival SpaceX capsule instead of Boeing’s extended their short mission to nearly nine months in orbit.
(With inputs from agencies)
rec-icon Recommended Topics
Share this article
International Space Station
Spacex
Read breaking news, latest updates from United States on topics related to politics, crime, along with national affairs. Stay up to date with news developments on Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
See More
Read breaking news, latest updates from United States on topics related to politics, crime, along with national affairs. Stay up to date with news developments on Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.