SpaceX Crew-9 Returns to Earth, Concluding Mission with Unique Crew Composition After Starliner Delay

SpaceX's Crew-9 successfully splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on March 18 at 5:57 p.m. EDT, marking the end of their mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew Dragon Freedom carried NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague and Gorbunov launched on Freedom in September 2024. Williams and Wilmore, initially slated to return on Boeing's Starliner, joined the crew due to the Starliner's delayed return. The landing marks SpaceX's ninth operational crew return under NASA's commercial crew program. Future SpaceX missions will target landing sites off the California coast. Hague spent 374 days in space over three flights, while Williams accumulated 608 days, the second-most for a U.S. astronaut.