NASA has released the initial photos of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams after their return from a nine-month space mission that was initially planned for only eight days.
The duo was photographed with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who were also part of SpaceX’s Crew-9 team that returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday.
The images of Wilmore and Williams were taken after they arrived at the Johnson Space Center in Houston following their splashdown off the Florida coast earlier in the day.
Please enable Javascript to view this content
Looking healthy and standing unassisted despite spending a long time in microgravity conditions, Wilmore was captured with a broad smile as he greeted officials at the space center.
Williams, also standing, was seen smiling as she stepped off the aircraft:
The two astronauts reached orbit aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. However, technical issues with the thrusters forced engineers to bring back the spacecraft empty, leaving Wilmore and Williams waiting nine months for a ride home.
Despite the unexpected delay, the experienced astronauts were in good health and were able to work alongside their ISS crewmates as on previous missions.
Wilmore and Williams were given seats on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Crew Dragon spacecraft, which arrived at the space station in September last year, bringing Hague and Gorbunov for a six-month stay.
All four astronauts returned home early the following day, splashing down off the Florida coast. In a surprising turn of events, they were greeted by a group of curious dolphins shortly after landing in the water.
