Stranded NASA Astronauts Begin Journey Home After Nine Months on ISS

Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore, delayed by a Boeing spacecraft malfunction, are returning to Earth aboard a SpaceX capsule with two colleagues.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore have departed the ISS after being stranded for over nine months due to a malfunction in Boeing's 'Starliner' spacecraft.
The astronauts were originally scheduled for a one-week mission in June 2024 to test the 'Starliner,' but safety concerns required the spacecraft to return to Earth unmanned.
They are traveling back aboard SpaceX's 'Crew Dragon' capsule with two other crew members, Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunow, who joined the ISS in September 2024.
The 'Crew Dragon' capsule is scheduled to land off the coast of Florida on March 18, 2025, at approximately 23:00 German time.
The arrival of a replacement crew, 'Crew 10,' over the weekend enabled the return of the stranded astronauts, underscoring the logistical complexity of ISS operations.