From left: NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on board the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on Mar 18, 2025. (Photo: NASA via AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP): After an unexpected nine-month stay in space, a pair of NASA astronauts finally returned to Earth on Tuesday, concluding a mission that gripped global attention and became a political flashpoint.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship carrying Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams -- alongside fellow American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov -- streaked through the atmosphere before deploying parachutes for a gentle splashdown off the Florida coast at 5:57pm.
