Astronauts Return Home

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are NASA astronauts. They unexpectedly spent more than nine months in space. Now, they’re finally home.

On June 5, 2024, Williams and Wilmore blasted off. They were the first people to fly on Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft. Their trip was supposed to be eight days long. But the craft had problems. It couldn’t carry them home. So the two had to stay at the International Space Station (ISS) until March 16, when a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft arrived to fly them back to Earth.

WELCOME HOME A member of a support team works to steady the SpaceX capsule on March 18. Those are dolphins near the capsule.

Stuck at Work

Astronauts have to prepare for long space missions. They train extensively. But Williams and Wilmore didn’t expect a long mission. It came as a surprise. Fortunately, they had plenty to do on the ISS. They went for spacewalks. And they conducted experiments. “We came up prepared to stay long, even though we [planned] to stay short,” Wilmore said in a recent air-to-ground press conference.

Being home will present different challenges. “The toughest thing about returning to Earth after many months in space is adapting to gravity,” retired astronaut Terry Virts says. Williams and Wilmore will have to go through medical testing. They’ll also do special workouts to help them readjust.

Splashing Down

Williams and Wilmore returned to Earth on March 18. That was 278 days later than planned. They flew in a SpaceX capsule designed to land in the ocean. (See “Safe Landing.”) “On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” radioed mission control, in California.

SAFE LANDING The SpaceX capsule parachutes into the ocean on March 18.