NASA Crew-9 back on Earth with SpaceX after completing the agency’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station, and splashing down safely in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida in the Gulf of America. They were even greeted by a pod of dolphins.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, returned to Earth at 5:57pm EDT. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew. After returning to shore, the crew will fly to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and reunite with their families.
“We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick, and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the International Space Station,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “Per President Trump’s direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier. This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration’s challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan, to bring our crew home. Through preparation, ingenuity, and dedication, we achieve great things together for the benefit of humanity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.”
Hague and Gorbunov lifted off at 1:17pm September 28, 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The next day, they docked to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. Williams and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on June 5, 2024, from Space Launch Complex 41 as part of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. The duo arrived at the space station on June 6th. In August, NASA announced the uncrewed return of Starliner to Earth and integrated Wilmore and Williams as part of the space station’s Expedition 71/72 for a return on Crew-9. The crew of four undocked at 1:05am to begin the trip home.
Williams and Wilmore traveled 121,347,491 miles during their mission, spent 286 days in space, and completed 4,576 orbits around Earth. Hague and Gorbunov traveled 72,553,920 miles during their mission, spent 171 days in space, and completed 2,736 orbits around Earth. The Crew-9 mission was the first spaceflight for Gorbunov. Hague has logged 374 days in space over his two missions, Williams has logged 608 days in space over her three flights, and Wilmore has logged 464 days in space over his three flights.
Throughout its mission, Crew-9 contributed to a host of science and maintenance activities and technology demonstrations. Williams conducted two spacewalks, joined by Wilmore for one and Hague for another, removing a radio frequency group antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collecting samples from the station’s external surface for analysis, installing patches to cover damaged areas of light filters on an X-ray telescope, and more. Williams now holds the record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut, with 62 hours and 6 minutes outside of station, and is fourth on the all-time spacewalk duration list.
The American crew members conducted more than 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations between them, with over 900 hours of research. This research included investigations on plant growth and quality, as well as the potential of stem cell technology to address blood diseases, autoimmune disorders, and cancers. They also tested lighting systems to help astronauts maintain circadian rhythms, loaded the first wooden satellite for deployment, and took samples from the space station’s exterior to study whether microorganisms can survive in space.
During their expedition, the Crew-9 astronauts played a vital role in supporting the mission of the ISS National Lab by conducting dozens of investigations that aim to bring value to humanity and enable a robust economy in low Earth orbit. Here are a few ISS National Lab-sponsored projects the astronauts worked on during their mission:
- Bristol Myers Squibb, in collaboration with ISS National Lab Commercial Service Provider Redwire Space, built on its legacy of protein crystallization on the space station with a project seeking to crystallize model small molecule compounds. Crystals grown in microgravity are often larger and more well-ordered than those grown on the ground and could have improved morphology (geometric shape). The project aims to support the manufacturing of more effective therapeutics in space.
- Sachi Bio, working with ISS National Lab Commercial Service Provider Space Tango, conducted an investigation to advance the development of new therapeutics for neurodegenerative conditions. The project aimed to use brain organoids in microgravity to test the effects of a novel drug on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia.
- The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) funded several projects supported by the crew. For example, a project from the University of California, Santa Barbara, working with ISS National Lab Commercial Service Provider BioServe Space Technologies, leveraged microgravity to understand how mucus that lines the human airway affects medication delivery to the lungs. Results from this project could improve the modeling of drug delivery for treatments such as surfactant replacement therapy (a treatment for infants with respiratory distress syndrome).
- The crew also worked on several student-led experiments. Genes in Space launched its 11th student investigation, an RNA experiment from Isabel Jiang, now a freshman at Yale University. The project investigated a novel way to detect genetic elements that can activate under spaceflight conditions and could shed light on genetic risks for astronauts. Additionally, the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) engaged students from 38 communities in the scientific process of designing microgravity experiments using Mixstix, flexible tubes that keep substances separate until they are ready to be mixed in space. The student projects explored research areas like infectious bacteria growth, germination of lettuce seeds, eco-friendly worms as pest control, and hydrating plants in space with Liquid I.V., a commercial powdered drink mix.
The NASA Crew-9 SpaceX mission was the fourth flight of the Dragon spacecraft named Freedom. It also previously supported NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4, Axiom Mission 2, and Axiom Mission 3. The spacecraft will return to Florida for inspection and processing at SpaceX’s refurbishing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where teams will inspect the Dragon, analyze data on its performance, and begin processing for its next flight.
The Crew-9 flight is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, and its return to Earth follows on the heels of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 launch, which docked to the station on March 16, beginning another long-duration science expedition.
The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station and low Earth orbit. The program provides additional research time and has increased opportunities for discovery aboard humanity’s microgravity testbed for exploration, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
PHOTO: NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov land in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in the water off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida on March 18, 2025. Hague, Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore returned from a long-duration science expedition aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
