After an unexpected nine-month stay in space, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally returned to Earth. Initially planned as an eight-day mission, their extended journey concluded with a successful splashdown off the coast of Florida at 3:27 a.m., aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. Joining them were NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, completing the NASA/SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
A unique welcome—from dolphins
A heartwarming moment from their return has captured global attention—videos showing a pod of dolphins swimming around the capsule during recovery operations have gone viral.
A video capturing dolphins swimming around the capsule during the recovery operation has gone viral.
“This is extremely cool,” remarked US Vice President JD Vance in response to the footage.
Another user shared the clip, suggesting that the dolphins “just wanted to say hi to the astronauts.”
Once the capsule was successfully lifted from the water, its side hatch was opened for the first time since September. The astronauts then stepped out and were transported to Houston, where they will undergo a 45-day rehabilitation program.
NASA shared footage of Crew-9 undocking, showing the Dragon spacecraft detaching from the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX was tasked with bringing the crew back, launching the Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket for the mission. Crew-10 has now taken over at the ISS.
Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore—both former Navy pilots—originally traveled to the ISS on June 5 last year for what was supposed to be an eight-day mission and the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner. However, when the Starliner capsule suffered propulsion issues, it was deemed unfit to return with passengers and was sent back to Earth uncrewed in September.
