NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who initially embarked on a short test flight aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, are finally preparing to return to Earth after an unexpected nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their prolonged mission was due to technical failures in the Starliner capsule, which returned to Earth empty in September, leaving the two astronauts stranded. With a newly arrived crew at the ISS, Williams and Wilmore are set to make their long-awaited journey home aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. The mission, which has drawn global attention, highlights both the resilience of the astronauts and the challenges facing commercial spaceflight programs.

After spending nearly a year in space, both astronauts are eager to return to familiar surroundings.

During their extended mission, Wilmore continued ministering remotely, participating in prayer services from space. Williams, meanwhile, stayed in contact with her family, with her husband Mike taking care of their dogs in her absence.

The pair launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, 2024, for what was expected to be a brief test flight. However, soon after liftoff, multiple malfunctions occurred:

With the Starliner no longer an option, Williams and Wilmore had to wait for the next available return spacecraft—SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which was initially delayed due to battery issues on its new capsule.

Now that a replacement crew has arrived at the ISS, NASA has scheduled the astronauts’ return for Tuesday, March 19, 2025.

Return timeline:

Boarding the SpaceX Crew Dragon:

Undocking and departure:

Descent and splashdown:

Unlike Russia’s Soyuz capsule, which can return astronauts in 3.5 hours, Crew Dragon follows a 17-hour return sequence to prioritize safety and landing precision.

Traditionally, astronauts return to Earth in the same spacecraft they launched in. However, due to the malfunctions in Starliner, NASA had no choice but to rely on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon instead.

NASA initially aimed to have two commercial spacecraft available for astronaut transport—Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. However, with Starliner facing ongoing technical challenges, SpaceX remains NASA’s primary partner for human spaceflight.

Starliner’s future remains uncertain as Boeing engineers continue investigating its propulsion system failures.

NASA officials, however, still support having two competing spacecraft for redundancy and are hopeful that Starliner can eventually become a reliable alternative.