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From Reuters: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the International Space Station early on Tuesday morning in a SpaceX capsule for a long-awaited trip back to Earth, nine months after their faulty Boeing Starliner craft upended what was to be a roughly week-long test mission.
Wilmore and Williams, two veteran NASA astronauts and retired U.S. Navy test pilots, strapped inside their Crew Dragon spacecraft along with two other astronauts and undocked from the orbiting laboratory at 1.05 a.m. ET (0505 GMT), embarking on a 17-hour trip to Earth.
The four-person crew, formally part of NASA’s Crew-9 astronaut rotation mission, is scheduled for a splashdown off Florida’s coast later on Tuesday at 5:57 p.m. ET.
“Crew-9 is going home,” said commander Nick Hague from inside the capsule as it slowly backed up and away from the station for what a NASA official described on the live webcast of the event as “the trip downhill.”
Below is a photo of the four returning astronauts, taken a day earlier.
Two days after Crew-10 arrived at the @Space_Station, Dragon and Crew-9 are set to depart on Tuesday, March 18 → https://t.co/ZZEmGU8Aar pic.twitter.com/Qrpd1Rq40j
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 17, 2025
On Monday, Hague posted the following statement on X: “It’s been a privilege to call the @Space_Station home, to play my part in its 25-year legacy of doing research for humanity, and to work with colleagues, now friends, from around the globe. My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected.”
It’s been a privilege to call the @Space_Station home, to play my part in its 25-year legacy of doing research for humanity, and to work with colleagues, now friends, from around the globe. My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected. pic.twitter.com/80jJ0Zn1sM
— Nick Hague (@AstroHague) March 17, 2025
The Dragon capsule holding the four astronauts was seen undocking from the space station.
The spacecraft will now execute a series of departure burns to move away from the @Space_Station. Dragon will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in ~17 hours
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2025
The astronauts were seen posing for photos and sharing final goodbye hugs before their departure.
After an extended stay on the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams began their 17-hour journey back to Earth in their Crew Dragon spacecraft https://t.co/XBXAOqhEQJ pic.twitter.com/xpBgOwlHnQ
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 18, 2025
Astronaut Butch Wilmore recently shared a moving testimony of his faith that has kept him through this experience.
Astronaut Butch Wilmore giving testimony to Christ, His goodness and sovereignty. Love this. pic.twitter.com/bP5rOf7cEh
— Justin Peters (@JustinPetersMin) March 18, 2025
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule for a long-awaited trip back to Earth, nine months after their faulty Boeing Starliner craft upended what was to be a week-long test mission https://t.co/qYP8goUYC1
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 18, 2025
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