NASA astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore are expected to reach Earth today after staying in the International Space Station (ISS) for nearly 300 days which was beyond their planned 8-day mission. What was intended to be a simple test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft became one of the longest unplanned stays in history. This return marks the end of that period, the astronauts are returning via a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, "Freedom", was undocked from the ISS on March 18, 2025, at 1:05 a.m. ET (10:35 a.m. by IST). The capsule started what should have been the final stages of an unexpected extended mission for Williams and Wilmore. The capsule is scheduled for splashdown near the coast of Florida on Wednesday, March 18, at approximately 5:57 p.m. ET (3:27 a.m. on March 19 by IST).
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also return on the spaceplane along with Williams and Wilmore. The end of the journey can be followed live on NASA as it will cover the events resulting from splashdown for space fans and concerned observers.
Williams and Wilmore began the journey on ISS back in June 2024 with the launch of Starliner to the ISS aboard Boeing's spacecraft. Their original mission was designed to last eight days, just enough time to fly the new Boeing capsule and return safely to Earth.
But technical issues changed those plans. Development of critical issues within the propulsion system of Starliner and concerning leaks of helium took place. After lengthy evaluations, NASA judged that the spacecraft was not safe for a return trip with crew members on board.
As the original return vehicle was rendered unusable, Williams and Wilmore transitioned from test pilots to bona fide ISS crew members. Over the course of their prolonged stay, they contributed to some of the station's scientific research programs and took part in vital maintenance missions to enable the orbital laboratory to function optimally.
While Boeing engineers were working through the Starliner's technical problems, NASA built an alternative plan of return for the stranded astronauts. This solution arrived with the Crew-10 mission launch on March 15, 2025, in which a SpaceX Crew Dragon carried another crew into space.
The next replacement crew, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers joined JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos. With the arrival of these astronauts, Williams, Wilmore, Hague, and Gorbunov were to return on the Crew Dragon capsule.
Even if it represents an extraordinary instance of contingency within NASA's Commercial Crew Program, the Starliner-Crew Dragon switch shows, on one hand, what is difficult about traveling into space and, on the other, how having multiple spacecraft alternatives for human transport to and from orbit can prove to be advantageous.
This extended period for the mission has far-reaching repercussions concerning the astronauts participating in it and on space exploration as a whole. Upon her return, Sunita Williams, with her various missions, will have accumulated a total of 608 days in space, making her the second-most experienced US astronaut in terms of cumulative time in orbit.
Although it came as a surprise to those monitoring the mission, the 290-day duration is not quite enough to break the single-flight US record set by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio in 2022-2023 for 371 days. Nonetheless, this is simply a monumental example of the adaptability and resilience of humanity while working in the space environment.
For Boeing and NASA's Commercial Crew Program, the mission is both a setback and a learning opportunity. The technical problems associated with the Starliner have to be investigated and resolved before the spacecraft can be certified for regular crew rotation missions to the ISS.
Sunita Williams held command of the International Space Station during her extended stay for almost nine months, presiding over its operations and research activities. The arrival of crew-10 transferred the command to Anne McClain and her crew for the station.
This exchange did not only signify change in the staff but also an assurance of continuity of international cooperation that has kept human presence continuous in space for over two decades. What the ISS stands for is nothing short of what all humanity could achieve when working beyond its planetary boundaries.
The unpredictable extended mission has found its close, and the journey of Williams and Wilmore home now sheds light on the many facets of the problems and complexity involved in human spaceflight. Adaptation to technical anomalies while keeping crew safety is testimony to the matured partnership NASA has developed with commercial partnerships and the redundancy laid into the space program itself.
The atmospheric reentry and splashdown of Crew Dragon mark the end of one of the most atypical missions in contemporary spaceflight history, stressing not only the systems of the spacecraft but human endurance and adaptability in the face of unanticipated circumstances.
As NASA continues to provide live updates, the Crew Dragon is returning to Earth with two astronauts who saw their brief evaluation mission lengthened into one of the longest stays aboard the International Space Station.