Crew-9 Overcomes Delays and Starliner Setbacks for a Historic Splashdown
Today, SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft splashed down in the Gulf of America near Tallahassee, Florida, safely returning four astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS). The crew—NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, plus Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—landed at 5:57 p.m. EDT, ending a mission that lasted over five months for most of the team and nine months for two members.
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The Crew-9 mission launched on September 28, 2024, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It was originally planned for August, but delays from Hurricane Helene and issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft pushed it back. Williams and Wilmore had been stuck on the ISS since June 2024 after Starliner couldn’t bring them home, so Crew-9 adjusted to rescue them. Hague and Gorbunov rounded out the team, launching with two empty seats to make room for the stranded astronauts.
After spending months on the ISS, the crew undocked early on March 18 and returned home in under 17 hours. The Dragon Freedom’s parachutes slowed it down for a gentle splashdown, and recovery teams quickly picked up the astronauts. While on the station, they worked on science experiments and upkeep as part of Expedition 72.
The mission faced challenges, like weather threats and the Starliner drama, but it showed how NASA, SpaceX, and Russia’s space agency can adapt and work together. NASA’s Bill Nelson called it a success, praising the team’s flexibility. This was also Dragon Freedom’s fourth trip to space, proving its reliability.
Now back on Earth, the astronauts are being checked out in Houston. Their return keeps NASA’s streak of ISS missions going strong, with Crew-10 already up there taking over. For Williams and Wilmore, it’s the end of an extra-long adventure, while Hague and Gorbunov wrap up a solid mission.
