How to Watch: Starliner Crew Set for Splashdown After 9-Month ISS Stay

NASA targets Tuesday at 5:57 p.m. for the return of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the ISS on Boeing Starliner’s inaugural crew flight test.

Jack Daleo

Monday, March 17, 2025 at 12:34 PM ET

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Jack Daleo

(From left, clockwise) NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are expected to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday evening. [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are returning to Earth on Tuesday after an unplanned nine-month stay on the International Space Station, far exceeding their original eight-day mission.
They will return aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, not the Boeing Starliner in which they traveled to the ISS, due to helium leaks and faulty thrusters discovered on the Starliner.
The astronauts' prolonged mission and change of return vehicle sparked controversy, with some describing them as "stranded," a term NASA and the astronauts have rejected in favor of "prepared and committed."

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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the International Space Station (ISS) in June for an intended eight-day stay, are expected to finally return to Earth Tuesday after spending more than nine months orbiting the planet.

The space agency on Sunday said it expects the astronauts—the commander and pilot of Boeing Starliner’s inaugural crew flight test (CFT)—to splash down off the Florida coast Tuesday at 5:57 p.m. EDT. NASA had originally been targeting a Wednesday splashdown. But after meeting with SpaceX, whose Crew Dragon spacecraft will serve as Wilmore and Williams’ ride home, officials determined that weather conditions are more favorable for a Tuesday return.