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The Crew-9 left for Earth after hatch closure and undocking from the ISS at around 10:35 AM IST on March 18, 2025. This initiated the Dragon's journey towards Earth, which was followed by a deorbit sequence setting the spacecraft on a path back into the atmosphere and a successful splashdown at the predetermined location.

 NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally landed on Earth together with astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft safely splashed off Florida's Gulf Coast carrying Crew-9 members from the International Space Station (ISS).

Following the recovery of their vehicle, the crew will be flown to Houston, the home of the NASA's human spaceflight operations, Johnson Space Centre. The space agency hosted the Return-to-Earth media conference at 5:00 AM IST with officials from NASA and SpaceX. It was livestreamed via space agency's free streaming platform NASA+ (formerly known as NASA TV) at plus.nasa.gov.

A week-long mission turned into a nine-month stay

Even though other astronauts spent more time at the ISS before WIlliams and Wilmore, almost none had to deal with so much uncertainty over their return. NASA planned to bring the Starliner duo back as part of the Crew-9 team as astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexandr Gorbunov arrived at the ISS with two empty seats reserved for two stranded astronauts.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck at the ISS since June last year. They reached the space station for a mission which was supposed to take about a week. However, the two guests became full-fledged crew members at the ISS after their ride -- Boeing Starliner spacecraft -- was deemed unsafe for the return journey.

Following the arrival of Crew-10 members at the ISS on Sunday, the Crew-9 started preparing for their descent after handing over their responsibilities to the new team. They boarded the SpaceX capsule in the early hours of Tuesday, March 18 (as per IST) and undocked two hours later for their journey back to Earth which lasted around 17 hours. The four Crew-9 members, including Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Alexandr Gorbunov splashed down off the Gulf Coast near Tallahassee, Florida.

While the duo waited for NASA to arrange a ride back home, they conducted experiments, maintenance, and spacewalk at the ISS. Sunita Williams even set a record for the most time spent spacewalking by a female astronaut, accumulating 62 hours over nine spacewalks. Being a veteran, she also became the station commander three months into her stay at the ISS and continued to held the position until earlier this month.

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