NASA's Crew-9 astronauts return safely to Earth

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth on Tuesday, splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Tallahassee, Florida.

Their journey back followed months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX recovery teams quickly secured the Dragon capsule, stabilizing it with fast boats before lifting it onto the main deck. The astronauts will now undergo medical checks before traveling to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Williams and Wilmore had planned for a shorter stay, but delays​​​​​​​ extended their mission to 286 days. Hague and Gorbunov spent 171 days in orbit before joining them for the return trip.