The NASA astronauts who spent an unexpected nine months on the International Space Station (ISS) have finally begun their long-awaited journey home.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
At 05:05 (UTC) on March 18, 2025, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with fellow NASA<\/a> astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, undocked from ISS\u2019s Harmony module for the start of a near 17-hour journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u2018stranded\u2019 astronauts Williams and Wilmore first arrived at the space station in June 2024 for a\u00a0planned week-long mission. However, their Boeing Starliner capsule was beset by technical problems and it was decided that the spacecraft should return unmanned<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n NASA\u2019s Crew-9 boarded the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft following the arrival on March 16, 2025, of Crew-10, who are scheduled to stay on ISS for around six months.\u00a0<\/p>\n The @SpaceX<\/a> Dragon spacecraft carrying four #Crew9<\/a> members undocked from the station at 1:05am ET today and is headed for a splashdown off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of America at 5:57pm. More\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/eISgbf1ngL<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/kHSzIlrZhP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 18, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cWe came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short. That\u2019s what we do in human space flight \u2013 planning for unknown unexpected contingencies and we did that. That\u2019s why we float right into Crew-9, and it was a somewhat of a seamless transition because we had planned ahead for it,\u201d Wilmore recently said before the astronauts\u2019 return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Hague, Williams and Wilmore have completed more than 900 hours of research between more than 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations during their stay aboard the orbiting ISS laboratory.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n They have carried out studies to design better reactors, build wooden satellites, and prepare for missions to the Moon and Mars.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The fate of the two astronauts has become politically charged with President Donald Trump saying that it was \u201cterrible that the Biden administration left them there so long\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n On January 29, 2025, US President Donald Trump asked Elon Musk to \u201cgo get\u201d the two \u201cbrave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Musk had previously said that his attempts to rescue the astronauts had been blocked by President Joe Biden, although a NASA top official contradicted this claim and said an offer to help \u201cnever came to headquarters\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dragon on-orbit shortly after undocking from the @Space_Station<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/lxmTIJuf99<\/a><\/p>\n\n
![\"NASA](\"https:\/\/www.aerotime.aero\/images\/2025\/03\/NASA-astronauts-1200x800.jpg\" "\\"NASA")
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