NASA’s Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore, and Nick Hague, plus Aleksandr Gorbunov, began their journey back to earth aboard a SpaceX capsule on Tuesday (March 18, 2025), the first two marking the end of an unexpectedly prolonged mission.
SpaceX crew Dragon splashdown LIVE
Wilmore and Williams, who were originally part of Boeing’s troubled test flight of its Starliner capsule, spent more than nine months in space. They departed the International Space Station (ISS) alongside two other astronauts, finally bringing their dramatic mission to a close.
Wilmore and Williams arrived at the ISS in June 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, initially scheduled for an eight-day mission. However, their short trip stretched into nearly nine months after NASA, citing technical issues with the Boeing vehicle, decided in August that the duo would return on a SpaceX capsule instead.
Their prolonged stay captured global attention, with some media outlets dubbing them the “stranded” astronauts — a reflection of NASA’s cautious decision to avoid sending them home in the troubled Starliner.
Here’s a timeline on the Starliner mission, and astronauts’ return to Earth:
Published – March 18, 2025 02:31 pm IST
