Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, have safely returned to Earth after an extended mission that stretched from an originally planned eight days to an unexpected nine months in space.

The crew, part of NASA and SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, was brought back aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which made a safe splashdown off the Florida coast at 3:27 a.m. on Tuesday.

As the recovery operation commenced, an unexpected yet breathtaking moment unfolded. A pod of dolphins was seen swimming around the Dragon capsule as it was being retrieved from the ocean, offering a surreal welcome home to the astronauts.

A Magical Ocean Welcome

The playful marine mammals circled the spacecraft, adding a sense of wonder to the mission’s conclusion before the capsule was lifted onto the recovery vessel.

Once secured, the recovery team carefully opened the side hatch of the capsule—the first time it had been accessed since September. The astronauts, having spent months in microgravity, were assisted out and transported to Houston for a 45-day rehabilitation program to readjust to Earth's gravity.

Challenges of the Mission

Crew-9’s return was far from routine. Originally, the mission was to be the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner and was planned to last only eight days. However, technical issues with Starliner’s propulsion system left Williams and Wilmore stranded in space. The malfunction forced the Starliner capsule to return to Earth in September—without a crew.

With uncertainty surrounding their return, NASA reassigned Williams and Wilmore to SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission.

SpaceX Steps In

In September, SpaceX launched a Dragon spacecraft to bring them home, but in an unusual move, only two astronauts were initially onboard instead of the usual four, making space for the stranded crew members. The Dragon capsule, launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket, successfully completed the mission.

Meanwhile, Crew-10 has now taken over operations aboard the International Space Station, replacing Crew-9.