Sunita Williams Returns to Earth After 9 Months in Space, ISRO Extends Welcome

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos’ cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov returned to Earth on March 19, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Tallahassee in Florida. 

The crew landed at 3:27 am IST aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, ending a mission that lasted over nine months on the International Space Station (ISS). Their return followed the arrival of the Crew-10 mission, which docked on March 16 to replace them.

To celebrate the occasion, ISRO posted a welcome message from the chairman, V Narayanan, on X.

While he praised Williams’ resilience and noted India’s interest in utilising her expertise for future missions, her ancestral village, Jhulasan in Gujarat, celebrated with prayers and festivities.

Williams, who spent 286 days in space, smiled and waved upon exiting the spacecraft—a moment met with cheers from the recovery team. Hailing the return, the White House stated, “Promise made, promise kept.” 

NASA also broadcasted the return live, capturing the capsule’s fiery re-entry and a pod of dolphins near the landing site. The mission logged 4,576 Earth orbits and 195 million kilometres travelled.

The Mission Delays

The mission, originally planned for eight days starting June 5, 2024, was extended due to propulsion issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was deemed unfit for their return. It returned uncrewed in September 2024 after NASA and Crew-10’s launch, delayed by a ground support issue, finally enabled the handover. 

NASA shifted Williams and Wilmore to the Crew-9 mission, scheduling their homecoming with Hague and Gorbunov. The splashdown occurred at 5:57 pm ET on March 18, after a 17-hour journey from the ISS, where they undocked at 10:35 am IST on March 18.

We're getting our first look at #Crew9 since their return to Earth! Recovery teams will now help the crew out of Dragon, a standard process for all crew members after returning from long-duration missions. pic.twitter.com/yD2KVUHSuq

The astronauts emerged from the capsule in sequence, with Hague exiting first, followed by Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore. Recovery teams assisted them onto stretchers as a precaution due to their prolonged exposure to microgravity. 

They will now travel to Houston for a 45-day rehabilitation program to readjust to Earth’s gravity. “What a ride! I see a capsule full of friends here,” Hague said as communications resumed post-splashdown.

The crew still awaits health challenges, including muscle loss and vision issues from their time in space. The successful splashdown concluded a challenging chapter in NASA’s crew rotation efforts, spotlighting human endurance in space exploration.

Moreover, the capsule brought back time-sensitive research samples from the ISS, which will be offloaded and sent to labs for analysis. This will contribute to ongoing studies in biology, physics, and materials science.