Nasa astronauts back on Earth after being stuck months on ISS: ‘grins, ear to ear’

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back safely with American Nicholas Hague and Russian Aleksandr Gorbunov

NASA astronaut Suni Williams gives a thumbs-up after being helped out of a SpaceX capsule onboard the SpaceX recovery ship Megan after landing in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Fla., Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (Keegan Barber/NASA via AP)

Two Nasa astronauts stuck onboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024 finally arrived back on Earth on Tuesday evening, more than nine months after the failure of Boeing’s pioneering Starliner capsule scuppered their originally scheduled week-long mission.

A SpaceX Dragon capsule containing four astronauts, including Starliner’s test pilots Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tallahassee, at 5.57pm ET (9.57pm GMT) after a 17-hour descent.