After 286 Days in Space, NASA Astronauts Return to Earth with a Splash

image via New Scientist

March 18, 2025, 10:00 PM

• •NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Fla., at 5:57 P.M. EDT, marking the end of their unexpectedly lengthy stay in space.
• •The pair returns home after a momentous 286 days in space—an astronomical increase from the mere eight days that were initially planned for their mission.
• •Wilmore and Williams’s ride up to the International Space Station (ISS) turned out to be a rather clunky trip: Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft continued to be plagued with hardware glitches that had already postponed its launch twice.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally returned to Earth on March 18, 2025, after spending 286 days in space. Their extended stay was due to a series of hardware problems with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which was originally supposed to bring them to the International Space Station.

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