Watch: Sunita and Butch exit SpaceX capsule, head to Houston for recovery

Watch: Sunita and Butch exit SpaceX capsule, head to Houston for recovery

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore have safely returned to Earth after spending over nine months in space due to a series of delays with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Their journey, which was originally planned as a one-week test mission, finally ended on Tuesday (March 18, 2025) as they splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

The capsule, named Freedom, undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) early in the morning and successfully parachuted into the waters off the Florida coast by the evening. Within an hour, recovery teams retrieved the capsule, ensuring that all four astronauts—Williams, Wilmore, another American astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut—were safely recovered.

Medical teams were present on-site to conduct initial health checks before the astronauts were assisted out of the capsule. Smiling and waving to cameras, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were seen being carefully transported in reclining stretchers for routine post-mission evaluations.

Following their return, the crew will now travel to Houston, Texas, where they will undergo a 45-day rehabilitation program to help their bodies readjust to Earth’s gravity. Long-duration spaceflights often lead to muscle loss, bone density changes, and other physical effects, making rehabilitation a crucial part of the astronauts’ post-mission recovery.