NASA’s Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore successfully return to Earth after 9 months stuck on ISS

After being stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams returned to Earth Tuesday afternoon.

Along with their two other Crew-9 colleagues, Aleksandr Gorbunov and Nick Hague — who spent 171 days aboard the ISS — Wilmore and Williams successfully splashed down in SpaceX's Dragon capsule off Florida's Gulf Coast, near Tallahassee.

What was initially supposed to be 10 days in space turned into nine months. Why? Problems with the Starliner capsule forced NASA to bring back the Boeing vessel without the veteran NASA astronauts months before they finally returned.

But after months of delays, the duo was relieved of their extended duties over the weekend when SpaceX Crew-10 arrived at the ISS for a crew-swap mission. Wilmore, Williams, Gorbunov and Hague departed the ISS on Monday via SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, commencing their 17-hour return mission.

Upon their return, SpaceX crews helped them out of the Dragon capsule, lifting them onto mobility benches, as per protocol.