NASA's Crew-9 Splashes Down, Dolphins Welcome Astronauts

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission splashed down in the Gulf of America off Florida on March 18, 2025, with recovery crews swiftly aiding the astronauts. As teams extracted the crew from the Dragon spacecraft, a pod of dolphins swam near the site, adding a memorable touch to the operation. Launched on September 28, 2024, from Cape Canaveral as part of the Commercial Crew Program, Crew-9 initially planned to carry four astronauts—Zena Cardman, Nick Hague, Stephanie Wilson, and Aleksandr Gorbunov—for a six-month ISS stint, but it was reconfigured to include only Hague and Gorbunov to bring back Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, stranded since June 2024 due to Boeing's Starliner issues. Wilmore and Williams, both experienced astronauts, launched aboard Starliner on June 5, 2024, for its inaugural crewed test flight, intended as a brief eight-day mission. When helium leaks and propulsion malfunctions rendered the spacecraft unsafe for their return, NASA sent it back uncrewed in September 2024, extending the duo’s ISS stay to over nine months. Wilmore, a retired Navy test pilot, and Williams, a naval aviator with two prior long-duration spaceflights, seamlessly adapted to the prolonged mission, contributing to station operations and research.