NASA confirms Sunita Williams, Crew-9 return after nine-month space mission
NASA has confirmed that Sunita Williams and her fellow Crew-9 astronauts will splash down off the Florida coast on Tuesday evening, concluding what became an unexpectedly extended mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Williams, along with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with splashdown targeted for approximately 5:57 PM EDT on Tuesday (2:57 AM Gulf Standard Time, Wednesday).
The mission took an unexpected turn for Williams and Wilmore, who originally travelled to the ISS in June aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. What was planned as a brief test mission became a nine-month stay when their Boeing vessel experienced propulsion system issues and was deemed unsafe for return travel.
, far exceeding their intended mission duration.
. @NASA will provide live coverage of Crew-9's return to Earth from the @Space_Station, beginning with @SpaceX Dragon hatch closure preparations at 10:45pm ET Monday, March 17.
Splashdown is slated for approximately 5:57pm Tuesday, March 18: https://t.co/yABLg20tKX pic.twitter.com/alujSplsHm
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) March 16, 2025
'The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favourable weather conditions expected for later in the week,' NASA officials stated.
Weather conditions played a key role in moving up the return timeline from the original Wednesday target date.
The astronauts will begin return preparations Monday evening with the closure of the hatch between the Dragon spacecraft and the ISS. Undocking is scheduled for 9:05 AM GST Tuesday, with the deorbit burn initiating approximately 16 hours later.
While the nine-month stay represents a significant extension beyond the typical six-month ISS rotation, it falls well short of the US space endurance record of 371 days set by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio in 2023, or the world record of 437 continuous days held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov aboard the Mir space station.
The unexpected nature of Williams' and Wilmore's extended mission, which required additional clothing and personal supplies to be sent to the astronauts, has garnered significant public interest and support.
NASA will provide live coverage of the return journey on NASA+, beginning with hatch closure coverage at 6:45 AM GST Monday and continuing through splashdown Tuesday evening.
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