NASA Astronauts Return From an Unexpected 9 Month Space Mission

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams hitched a different trip home on Tuesday, ending a story that started with a botched test flight almost nine months ago. They were no longer stuck in space.

In the early evening, hours after leaving the International Space Station, their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico. They ended their impromptu journey with a splashdown off the Florida Panhandle shore near Tallahassee.

The astronauts were hurried away in reclining stretchers for standard medical examinations within an hour of exiting their capsule, grinning and waving at the cameras.

It all began last spring with a Boeing test flight 

After embarking on Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5, the two were supposed to be gone in about a week. Due to numerous issues that arose during the journey to the space station, NASA ultimately sent Starliner back empty and moved the test pilots to SpaceX, delaying their return until February. Then, another month was added to the delay due to SpaceX capsule problems.

Williams and Wilmore spent 286 days in space, which was 278 days longer than they had planned before they started. By the time of splashdown, they had completed 4,576 orbits around the planet, covering 121 million miles (195 million kilometers).

Williams and Wilmore spent 286 days in space, which was 278 days longer than they had planned before they started. By the time of splashdown, they had completed 4,576 orbits around the planet, covering 121 million miles (195 million kilometers).

As divers prepared the capsule to be hoisted onto the retrieval ship, dolphins circled it. After they were safely on board, the side hatch was opened, and one by one, the astronauts received assistance. Wilmore, who offered two gloved thumbs-up, was next to last out, behind Williams.