Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore begin return to Earth
ByCox Media Group National Content Desk
Return to Earth The SpaceX capsule undocked from the International Space Station to bring Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore home. (NASA)
ByCox Media Group National Content Desk
After an unplanned nine-month stay on board the International Space Station, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally started their trip back home.
Williams and Wilmore had been on the Boeing Starliner mission to space in June which was supposed to last about a week, but after issues with the spacecraft, they had to remain on the ISS for an extended time.
The pair, along with NASA’s Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov from Russia’s Roscosmos agency left the ISS at 1:05 a.m. ET.
Hague said “Crew-9 is going home,” early this morning to mark the moment that Crew Dragon Freedom fully detached from the ISS.
There have been several thruster burns to get the spacecraft into position for reentry. At the same time, the four astronauts will get some rest as they can.
They will splash down later on Tuesday afternoon or early evening off the coast of Florida. Splashdown is expected to happen as soon as 5:57 p.m. ET, but may change depending on weather and the progress of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Once it hits the water, SpaceX rescue ship will pull the capsule from the water and Williams and Wilmore will exit.
They will be checked out by doctors, a routine procedure for astronauts. They are expected to eventually return to Johnson Space Center in Houston.
While the two astronauts were in space for a lot longer than planned, Williams said that it was harder on their families than what she and Wilmore experienced.
“It’s been a roller coaster for them probably a little bit more so than for us,” Williams said. “We’re here. We have a mission. We’re just doing what we do every day. And you know, every day is interesting because we’re up in space, and it’s a lot of fun. I think the hardest part is having the folks on the ground have to not know exactly when we’re coming back.”
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Delayed return to Earth FILE - NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are greeted by the crew of the International Space Station on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this image, made from NASA TV, US astronaut Suni Williams works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/NASA TV) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - In this photo provided by NASA, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard approaches the International Space Station on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this image, made from NASA TV, US astronaut Suni Williams works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/NASA TV) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this image, made from NASA TV, US astronaut Suni Williams works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. ( AP Photo/NASA TV) (Michael Soh/AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts Suni Williams, foreground, and Butch Wilmore work outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/NASA TV, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth This image made from a NASA live stream shows NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore during a press conference from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - In this image from video provided by NASA, astronauts Butch Wilmore, right and Suni Williams wait for liftoff inside a Boeing Starliner capsule at Space Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, for a trip to the International Space Station. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this image made from a NASA livestream, the two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June 2024, Butch Wilmore, far left, and Suni Williams, far right, welcome two new residents who flew up on SpaceX, NASA's Nick Hague, front left in blue, and the Russian Space Agency's Alexander Gorbunov, front right in blue, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. Behind them, from left in black, are NASA's Jeanette Epps, Russia's Alexander Grebenkin, NASA's Mike Barratt and NASA's Matthew Dominick. From left, wearing red, are Russia's Ivan Vagner, NASA's Don Pettit and Russia's Alexei Ovchinin. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for their liftoff on a Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) (Chris O'Meara/AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are greeted by the crew of the International Space Station upon their arrival on Thursday, June 6, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this photo provided by NASA, astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station on Aug. 9, 2024. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth This photo provided by NASA shows Boeing's Starliner spacecraft which launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station docked to the Harmony module's forward port on July 3, 2024, seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the adjacent port. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this image, made from NASA TV, US astronauts Suni Williams, foreground, and Butch Wilmore, behind, work outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/NASA TV) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts, including Suni Williams, center, greeting each other after a SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - This photo provided by NASA shows Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station, docked to the Harmony module's forward port on July 3, 2024, seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the adjacent port. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this image, made from NASA TV, US astronaut Suni Williams works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. ( AP Photo/NASA TV) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth This image taken from video posted by NASA shows, from left, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague and Suni Williams speaking during a news conference, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - In this image released by NASA, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, both Expedition 71 Flight Engineers, make pizza aboard the International Space Station's galley located inside the Unity module on Sept. 9, 2024. Items are attached to the galley using tape and velcro to keep them from flying away in the microgravity environment. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, center, pose with Expedition 71 Flight Engineers Mike Barratt, left, and Tracy Dyson, aboard the International Space Station's Quest airlock on June 24, 2024. Officials said Thursday, July 18, there’s still no return date for Williams and Wilmore, who have been at the International Space Station since June 6. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - This image made from a NASA live stream shows NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore during a press conference from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts greeting each other after a SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Top row from left: Nick Hague, Alexander Gorbunov, Suni Williams, Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. Bottom row from left: Butch Wilmore, Takuya Onishi, Anne McClain, Kirill Peskov, Nichole Ayers and Don Pettit. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for their liftoff on the Boeing Starliner capsule to the international space station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) (Chris O'Meara/AP)
Delayed return to Earth This image made from video by NASA shows astronauts waving after the SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Top row from left: Nick Hague, Alexander Gorbunov, Suni Williams, Alexei Ovchinin. Bottom row from left: Butch Wilmore, Takuya Onishi, Anne McClain, Kirill Peskov, Nichole Ayers, Don Pettit and Ivan Vagner. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth In this photo provided by NASA, from left, astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Nick Hague and Don Pettit show their U.S. flag-themed socks aboard the International Space Station on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth Sunita "Suni" Williams, a retired U.S. Navy officer & NASA astronaut, speaks about Diwali via video from the International Space Station, at a reception celebrating Diwali hosted by President Joe Biden, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (Ben Curtis/AP)
Delayed return to Earth This image made from video by NASA shows Russian astronaut Alexei Ovchinin, left, Butch Wilmore, center, and Suni Williams wait to greet newly arrived astronauts after the SpaceX capsule docked with the International Space Station, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (NASA via AP) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - In this photo released by NASA, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, both Expedition 71 Flight Engineers, make pizza aboard the International Space Station's galley located inside the Unity module on Sept. 9, 2024. Items are attached to the galley using tape and velcro to keep them from flying away in the microgravity environment. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - Boeing's Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket lifts off from the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) (Chris O'Meara/AP)
Delayed return to Earth FILE - This image made from a NASA live stream shows NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore during a press conference from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (NASA via AP, File) (AP)
Delayed return to Earth This image provided by NASA shows Nick Hague, right, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore. (NASA via AP) (AP)
