The White House on Tuesday emphasized how US President Donald Trump prioritized the return of NASA Crew-9 astronauts—Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov—after their extended nine-month stay in space.
In an official statement, the White House credited SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and NASA for ensuring the astronauts’ safe return to Earth.
“PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months. Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to Elon Musk, SpaceX, and NASA!”
Following the White House statement, Elon Musk congratulated SpaceX and NASA teams for successfully bringing the astronauts home and acknowledged Trump’s role in expediting their return.
“Congratulations to the SpaceX and NASA teams for another safe astronaut return! Thank you to Donald Trump for prioritizing this mission!”
The Crew-9 team splashed down safely off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of America, marking the completion of NASA’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The mission’s timeline was significantly extended due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which initially launched Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore in June 2024. Their return was delayed for over nine months, far longer than the originally planned one-week test flight.
NASA Administrator Janet Petro commented on the astronauts’ prolonged stay, stating:
“Per President Trump’s direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier. This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration’s challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan to bring our crew home.”
During their time aboard the ISS, the Crew-9 astronauts:
– Conducted over 150 scientific experiments
– Completed two spacewalks (Williams now holds the record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut: 62 hours and 6 minutes)
– Traveled over 121 million miles and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth
After returning to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the astronauts will undergo medical evaluations and reunite with their families. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, Freedom, will be inspected and refurbished for future missions.
With NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 already aboard the ISS, the Commercial Crew Program continues to push forward, advancing NASA’s long-term Moon and Mars exploration plans.
