Stranded NASA astronauts touch down, plucked from ocean
The much-anticipated return of stranded NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station went off without a hitch.
Williams and Wilmore flew home from the ISS along with astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, splashing down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida just before 6 p.m. ET today. The weather was crystal clear and the Atlantic Ocean described as "glass-like" by NASA's live feed on X.
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Speed boats raced to the capsule after the splashdown of the Dragon capsule that carried SpaceX's Crew-9. NASA officials then climbed aboard the Dragon to check on the four astronauts as dolphins swam nearby (visible at the 1:33 mark on NASA's live feed). After a quick check, the capsule was hoisted onto a larger boat, the Megan, and then hosed down to wash off corrosive sea water.
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The hatch was quickly opened and Commander Nick Hague was the first to be extracted from the Dragon, followed by Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore. Less than an hour after splashdown, all astronauts were extracted and loaded onto stretchers as their muscles needed time to adjust to Earth's gravity.
The return of SpaceX's Crew-9 was notable for many reasons, but the most significant was the fact that Williams and Wilmore were returning to Earth after their initial ISS trip of eight days turned into 286 days, or over nine months, thanks to their Boeing Starliner ship experiencing propulsion problems during their arrival last June.
NASA will provide the media with more updates on Williams, Wilmore, Hague and Gorbunov at a press conference scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Neal joined Mashable’s Social Good team in 2024, editing and writing stories about digital culture and its effects on the environment and marginalized communities. He is the former editorial director of The Advocate and Out magazines, has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, Curbed, and Los Angeles magazine, and is a recipient of the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for LGBTQ Journalist of the Year Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association (NLGJA). He lives in Los Angeles with his family.
