Crew-9 Rescue Mission: How SpaceX Brought NASA's Stranded Astronauts Home

Updated: March 19 2025 12:00
The crew-9 rescue mission marked a significant milestone that few could have predicted a year earlier. As SpaceX's Dragon Freedom capsule splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, it brought home not just its originally assigned crew members, but also two NASA astronauts who had arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) via an entirely different spacecraft and mission.


This unique space rescue operation, executed flawlessly by NASA and SpaceX, highlights the importance of redundancy in space transportation systems and showcases how commercial partnerships have fundamentally changed America's approach to human spaceflight.

https://t.co/aqY6RNsEfK

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 18, 2025

Dragon Freedom touched down at 5:57 PM Eastern Time (2:57 PM Pacific) on March 17, 2024, concluding a mission unlike any other in the commercial crew program's history. On board were four astronauts:

• U.S. Space Force Colonel Nick Hague (Commander)
• NASA astronaut Suni Williams (Mission Specialist)
• NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore (Mission Specialist)
• Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov (Mission Specialist)

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.

What made this return journey remarkable was that Williams and Wilmore weren't originally part of the Crew-9 mission at all. They had launched to the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June 2023 as part of the Crew Flight Test mission, expecting to return on the same vehicle after about eight days in space.

Instead, technical issues with the Starliner led NASA to make the unprecedented decision to return the spacecraft empty and have Williams and Wilmore extend their stay on the ISS for over nine months, ultimately coming home with the Crew-9 team on Dragon.



The Dragon Freedom capsule, veteran of three previous missions (including Crew-4 and two Axiom private missions), departed the International Space Station at 1:05 AM Eastern Time on March 17th. After approximately 17 hours of free flight, including several departure burns and a crucial deorbit burn lasting about 7.5 minutes, the spacecraft began its descent toward Earth. The return sequence followed the now-familiar pattern established by previous Dragon missions:

• Trunk separation to expose the heat shield
• Closure of the nose cone to protect the forward hatch
• Deorbit burn to place Dragon on a trajectory for reentry
• Communications blackout period as plasma enveloped the spacecraft during reentry
• Drogue parachute deployment at approximately 18,000 feet (slowing from 350 mph)
• Main parachute deployment at about 6,500 feet (further reducing speed to 119 mph)
• Splashdown at a gentle 16 mph in the Gulf of Mexico

Throughout this sequence, Dragon operated autonomously, with the crew monitoring systems through touchscreen displays. Commander Nick Hague maintained communication with SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne, California, providing periodic altitude callouts during the final descent.



The recovery of Dragon Freedom represented a triumph of logistics and planning. SpaceX's recovery vessel "Megan" (named after NASA astronaut Megan McArthur from Crew-2) waited approximately three nautical miles from the splashdown zone, while fast boats and jet skis deployed to secure the spacecraft and retrieve the parachutes. After splashdown, the recovery sequence proceeded smoothly:

• Initial safety inspection and hypergolic vapor checks around the Draco thrusters
• Rigging of the spacecraft for hoisting
• Lifting Dragon onto the recovery vessel's deck
• Translation of the spacecraft to the egress platform
• Opening of the side hatch (unused since launch in September)
• Removal of interior components to create space for crew egress
• Assisted exit for each crew member, with medical personnel standing by

The entire recovery operation took less than an hour from splashdown to having all four astronauts safely on board the recovery vessel. As Jaden Jennings, NASA Public Affairs Officer aboard the recovery vessel, described it: "Splashdown was nothing short of spectacular... We spotted those drogue chutes and this was quickly followed by four healthy white and orange main parachutes. I think I speak for all of us on the ship when I say a new core memory was made today."



The Crew-9 return mission brought home a diverse and accomplished group of space travelers:

• Nick Hague (Commander) - This was Hague's second completed space mission, bringing his career total to 374 days in space. The Kansas native and U.S. Space Force Colonel previously served on Expeditions 59/60 in 2019 and has accumulated nearly 26 hours of spacewalking time. His journey to space hasn't always been smooth—in 2018, he experienced a harrowing launch abort on a Soyuz rocket, making his successful missions all the more meaningful.
• Suni Williams (Mission Specialist) - Williams has now accumulated 608 days in space across her career, the second-most by any U.S. astronaut (behind only Peggy Whitson's 675 days). Her unique journey on this mission—launching on Starliner and returning on Dragon—means she has now flown on four different spacecraft types: Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Starliner, and Dragon. The retired U.S. Navy captain has completed nine spacewalks totaling over 62 hours.
• Butch Wilmore (Mission Specialist) - Like Williams, Wilmore launched on Starliner and returned on Dragon, adding to his previous flights on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz. This was his third space mission, bringing his career total to over 500 days in space. The retired U.S. Navy captain from Tennessee has conducted five spacewalks throughout his career.
• Alexander Gorbunov (Mission Specialist) - This mission marked Gorbunov's first spaceflight, earning him 171 days in space. The Russian engineer-turned-cosmonaut, selected in 2018, witnessed the arrival and departure of multiple visiting vehicles during his stay on the ISS.

The presence of Williams and Wilmore on Dragon Freedom represents a unique chapter in the Commercial Crew Program's history. Their original mission, Boeing's Crew Flight Test, was intended to be a short validation flight of the Starliner spacecraft, which has faced numerous delays and technical challenges in its development.


After launching in June 2024, Starliner successfully reached the ISS, but multiple thruster issues and helium leaks raised concerns about the spacecraft's reliability for human return. NASA made the difficult but prudent decision to return Starliner uncrewed while extending Williams and Wilmore's stay on the station to join the next available Dragon return flight.

This situation highlights both the challenges of developing human-rated spacecraft and the value of having multiple providers for ISS transportation. Without SpaceX's Dragon capability, NASA would have faced more limited options for bringing the astronauts home.

While disappointing for Boeing, the experience provided valuable data that will help improve Starliner's systems before it enters regular operational service. NASA has emphasized that having two different U.S. vehicles capable of carrying astronauts remains a priority for redundancy and assurance of access to space.



Despite the unusual circumstances, the extended Expedition 71/72 mission proved extremely productive from a scientific perspective. The crew conducted over 900 hours of research across more than 150 experiments during their time aboard the ISS. Some notable research conducted during this expedition included:

• Testing of a new compact exercise device that combines the functions of three separate machines into one smaller unit (crucial for future deep space missions where space is limited)
• Deployment of the first wooden satellite to study alternative, renewable materials for spacecraft construction
• Microbial experiments on the exterior of the ISS to determine if Earth organisms could survive in the harsh environment of space
• Investigations into osteoporosis, Parkinson's disease, and cancer research that take advantage of the microgravity environment

Additionally, Williams commanded the orbiting laboratory for much of the expedition, while both she and Wilmore conducted spacewalks to maintain and upgrade the station's systems.



Dragon Freedom, the vehicle that brought Crew-9 home, exemplifies SpaceX's approach to reusable spacecraft. This capsule first flew in April 2022 for the Crew-4 mission and subsequently supported two private Axiom Space missions (Ax-2 and Ax-3) before launching with Crew-9 in September 2023.


The spacecraft's heat shield, featuring SpaceX's PICA-3.0 (Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator) material, is designed to withstand temperatures exceeding 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit during reentry. This advanced material evolved from NASA's original PICA technology, which was initially developed for comet sample return missions.


Dragon's autonomous flight capabilities allow it to navigate from the ISS to splashdown with minimal human intervention, though the crew maintains the ability to take manual control if necessary. The spacecraft's environmental control and life support systems kept the astronauts comfortable throughout their journey, despite the extreme external conditions during reentry.

As Kate Tice, Senior Quality Systems Engineering Manager at SpaceX, noted during the splashdown coverage: "This is the final Dragon recovery on the East Coast after six great years of successful recovery operations. We'll be moving all Dragon recovery operations back to the West Coast."





As Crew-9's mission concludes, NASA's Commercial Crew Program continues to evolve. SpaceX has established Dragon as a reliable transportation system for both NASA and private missions, while Boeing works to resolve Starliner's issues before it enters regular service. The next phase for the returning astronauts includes:

• Medical evaluations aboard the recovery vessel
• Helicopter transport to shore
• Flight back to Houston's Johnson Space Center for reunification with family and friends
• Post-flight rehabilitation and debriefing

Meanwhile, the International Space Station continues its operations with the recently arrived Crew-10 mission, maintaining the continuous human presence that will reach 25 years in November 2024.

This unique mission—combining crews from different spacecraft and extending what was supposed to be a brief test flight into a nine-month expedition—demonstrates the flexibility and resilience of NASA's commercial partnerships. It also highlights how far commercial spaceflight has come since the first Dragon crew mission just four years ago.




The successful return of Williams and Wilmore on Dragon Freedom validates NASA's strategy of maintaining multiple providers for crew transportation. This approach, born from the post-Shuttle gap in U.S. access to space, ensures that no single technical issue can strand astronauts or halt operations at the International Space Station.


The mission also demonstrates the maturity of commercial space operations. The recovery process, once taking hours, has been streamlined to the point where astronauts were safely out of the capsule less than an hour after splashdown—a testament to the experience gained through multiple missions.


For Boeing and Starliner, this unexpected turn of events represents both a challenge and an opportunity. While disappointing to return the spacecraft uncrewed, the extensive data gathered will inform improvements to systems and procedures before Starliner begins regular crew rotation missions.

As NASA looks toward returning humans to the Moon through the Artemis program and eventually to Mars, the lessons learned from the Commercial Crew Program—including this unusual rescue mission—will shape how the agency approaches future human spaceflight partnerships.