Stranded in the stars for nine long months, two American astronauts finally set foot on solid ground. What was meant to be an eight-day journey became a battle against time, testing their endurance and the limits of space travel. Watch the heart-stopping moment Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore finally return to Earth.

NASA Astronauts Suni Williams And Butch Wilmore Have Ben Stuck In Space Since June 2024

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, a pair of NASA astronauts, launched on the Boeing Starliner capsule on June 5, 2024. The original plan was to “spend just over a week” at the International Space Station before getting back into the Starliner to return to Earth. They were expected back on June 14, 2024.

But as we all know, that is not what happened.

The Starliner suffered an array of problems, so NASA decided to bring it back without its crew by remote control, stranding Williams and Wilmore on the International Space Station.

They started their stay as guests but quickly got to work helping the other astronauts with experiments, fixing equipment, and spacewalking. In fact, Williams set a record for the “most time spent spacewalking over a career among female astronauts,” spending 62 hours spacewalking.

In January, President Trump Asked Elon Musk To Pick Up The Pace

SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk, was readying a brand-new SpaceX capsule to bring up replacement crew and bring back the stranded astronauts. After he took office, President Trump asked Musk to accelerate the process and bring them home.

The new SpaceX capsule was not ready to fly, but they decided to use a used one to hurry the process up by a few weeks.

Dragon is the official name of the capsule, and it arrived at the ISS with Crew-10 on March 15.

Stranded Astronauts Finally Returned Home

SpaceX revealed that Dragon was set to depart the ISS on March 18.