NASA Announces Sunita Williams' Return Date To Earth, Shares Splashdown Time

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, along with others, will return to Earth aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon on March 18.

Image: X/ @Commercial_Crew

After spending more than nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are set to return to Earth. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that both astronauts will return on Tuesday, March 18, evening (GMT).

Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, along with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, will be transported back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, which arrived at the ISS early Sunday.

"NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for the return of the agency’s Crew-9 mission from the International Space Station. Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favorable conditions forecasted for the evening of Tuesday, March 18," NASA said in a released statement.

.@NASA will provide live coverage of Crew-9’s return to Earth from the @Space_Station, beginning with @SpaceX Dragon hatch closure preparations at 10:45pm ET Monday, March 17.

Splashdown is slated for approximately 5:57pm Tuesday, March 18: https://t.co/yABLg20tKX pic.twitter.com/alujSplsHm

— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) March 16, 2025