When the Crew-9 Dragon capsule Freedom splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday evening, some curious marine life greeted it and the members of the Starliner crew.
“Wow! We got a cute little pod of dolphins, not just one or two,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said during the NASA-SpaceX webcast of Crew-9’s entry, descent, and landing.
That’s right! When the capsule landed in the water, a group of dolphins surrounded it and stole the show. In the video, you can see the dolphins jumping out of the water next to the floating capsule as recovery vessels approach it to check on the crew members.
A Warm Welcome Home
It was a long-awaited welcome home for Starliner astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were in space for 286 days. Originally, the astronauts were only supposed to be up there for 10 days. However, an issue with the propulsion system left them orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station, where their return to Earth experienced multiple delays.
According to NASA, Williams and Wilmore traveled 121,347,491 miles during their mission and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth.
The Crew-9 mission commander, Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were also aboard the Dragon capsule when it splashed down.
“We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick, and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the International Space Station,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. According to NASA’s press release, “The American crew members conducted more than 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations between them, with over 900 hours of research.”
Williams and Wilmore’s return ends a saga that started when the crew lifted off in early June 2024. NASA decided to bring the uncrewed Starliner back home on September 7, 2024. Finally, on March 18, 2025, the astronauts are safely back on Earth.
The Crew-9 return follows NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 launch, which docked on the ISS on March 16, 2025.
