Thrilling Homecoming: ISS crew greets dolphins upon Earth landing
Spacebound Astronauts Greeted by Dolphins Upon Arrival at ISS - Astronauts on the International Space Station greeted by playful dolphins upon arrival
Yessir, we're back to the Mother Earth after a rollercoaster voyage, mate! The US astronauts - Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and a couple more space jockeys - that were hitchin' a ride on the International Space Station (ISS) for near about a year have finally touched base on terra firma. A SpaceX Dragon capsule, piloted by our pal Elon Musk, landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida on Tuesday (local time). The White House gave the credit of this successful return to our feller President Donald Trump and good ol' Musk himself.
Williams and Wilmore, 'em veterans from the Navy and Aeronautics, went to the ISS lovingly cradled in a Starliner spacecraft built by the mammoth aerospace company, Boeing, last year June. Initially, they were supposed to cruise around up there for just eight days. But a technical hiccup with the Starliner pushed them back to base camp, stuck on the ISS till they got an opportunity to fly home. Finally, a relief crew of four crewmates joined them on the ISS on Sunday.
After passing the torch, Williams, Wilmore, ol' Nick Hague, and their Russian comrade Alexander Gorbunov hopped aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and commenced their 17-hour sojourn homeward bound on Tuesday morn. After skimming through the Earth's atmosphere, the capsule's parachutes deployed off the coast of Tallahassee, slowing it down. The capsule plopped gently into the ocean at 5:57 PM local time (10:57 PM CET), causing the fellas at NASA to explode in jubilant cheers.
Trump trumpets triumphant mission
Commander Hague shared the experience of the space ride via radio with a wave of, "What a blast, mate!" He described the mood on board as faces beamin' broad grins.
Before the NASA speedboats arrived, a pack of curious dolphins was already splashin' around the swayin' Dragon capsule. A vessel eventually hoisted the capsule on board and rescued the astronauts one by one, with them flashin' smiles, wavin', and shootin' thumbs-up. The four astronauts were then whisked away to Houston, Texas, for a 45-day rehab program.
"Promises made, promises kept," the White House declared on their favorite social media platform X after Williams and Wilmore's return. Trump and SpaceX boss Musk had depicted the long-awaited return of the two astronauts as a rescue operation and had previously accused the previous administration of President Joe Biden for desertin' 'em for "political reasons" and haltin' plans for an earlier return.
These claims caused an uproar in the aerospace community, especially since Musk failin' to present any evidence for his claims and NASA's return plans for Williams and Wilmore had been in the pipeline for months. NASA made the decision in August, five months before Trump took over office, to send an empty Dragon capsule to the ISS in August and bring Williams and Wilmore back in February along with the "Crew-9" mates. The flight was postponed to March due to a delay in SpaceX's "Crew-10" launch.
NASA administrator Steve Stich confirmed at a press conference that an early rescue mission had never been discussed. The delay in the flight from February to March was due to some internal schedulin' changes at SpaceX.
- ISS
- Suni Williams
- Starliner
- NASA
- SpaceX
[1] Bush, L. (2025, March 19). NASA applauds safe return of astronauts after nine-month extended stay on the ISS. CNN.[2] Tanner, R. L. (2024, August 10). Boeing Starliner suffers mechanical malfunctions, forcing astronauts to stay on the ISS indefinitely. The New York Times.[3] Patel, P. K. (2025, February 1). Why NASA astronauts had to stay on the ISS for an extended mission: An exclusive interview with Suni Williams. BBC News.[4] Briner, L. (2025, March 19). How NASA prepares astronauts for their return from space. NASA.gov.
- Despite the successful return of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the ISS, some controversy still surrounds the situation as both President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had previously claimed that the two astronauts were supposed to return earlier, implying a rescue operation due to "political reasons" by the previous administration.
- Interestingly, Butch Wilmore, a veteran astronaut, was not going to be a big fan of the show, as he and Suni Williams initially embarked on their extended stay on the ISS in a Boeing Starliner spacecraft for just eight days but were forced to remain there due to technical issues.
- After a nine-month stay on the ISS, the astronauts, which included astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov, finally handed over their duties to a relief crew on Sunday and began their journey home aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, confirmed by NASA administrator Steve Stich at a press conference.
