'A capsule full of grins': NASA astronauts return to Earth after nine months in space

Two NASA astronauts have splashed down off the Florida coast after a marathon mission that started with a bungled Boeing test flight nine months ago.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth in a SpaceX capsule on Tuesday with a soft splashdown off Florida's coast Source: Supplied / NASA

After an unexpected nine-month stay in space, a pair of NASA astronauts finally returned to Earth on Wednesday, concluding a nine-month mission that gained global attention.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship carrying Butch Wilmore and Sunita 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 8.57 AEDT.

Wilmore and Williams, two veteran NASA astronauts and retired US Navy test pilots, had launched into space as Starliner's first crew in June for what was expected to be an eight-day test mission.

But issues with Starliner's propulsion system led to cascading delays to their return home, culminating in a NASA decision to have them take a SpaceX craft back this year as part of the agency's crew rotation schedule.

"What a ride," NASA astronaut Nick Hague, the Crew-9 mission commander inside the Dragon capsule, told mission control moments after splashing down.

"I see a capsule full of grins, ear to ear."

The crew's capsule was hoisted out of the water onto a boat. The astronauts will be flown on a NASA plane to their crew quarters at the space agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston for several days of health checks, per routine for astronaut returns, before NASA flight surgeons say they can go home to their families.

Wilmore and Williams will have logged 286 days in space — longer than the average six-month International Space Station mission length but far short of United States record-holder Frank Rubio.

His continuous 371 days in space, ending in 2023, was the unexpected result of a coolant leak on a Russian spacecraft.

The astronaut pair launched into space as Starliner's first crew in June last year for what was expected to be an eight-day test mission. Source: AP / AP

Wilmore and Williams had been doing scientific research and conducting routine maintenance with the station's other five astronauts. Williams performed two six-hour spacewalks for maintenance outside the ISS, including one with Wilmore.

The ISS, about 409 km in altitude, is a football field-sized research lab that has been housed continuously by international crews of astronauts for nearly 25 years, a key platform of science diplomacy managed primarily by the US and Russia.

Williams told reporters earlier this month that she was looking forward to returning home to see her two dogs and family. "It's been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us," she said.