A pair of NASA astronauts left stranded in space for nearly nine months due to a malfunctioning Boeing spacecraft have finally made their way home aboard a SpaceX capsule. The return flight, which also carried another NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, took off from the International Space Station (ISS) early Tuesday morning and splashed down off the coast of Florida in the evening.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore originally launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 5, 2024, for what was meant to be an eight-day test mission. However, shortly after arriving at the ISS, the spacecraft suffered multiple helium leaks and thruster failures, forcing NASA to declare the capsule unfit for a crewed return. The Starliner was eventually sent back to Earth without passengers, leaving Williams and Wilmore stranded on the station for an extended mission.
SEE IT! Moment stranded astronauts brought back to Earth after they were abandoned by President Biden pic.twitter.com/2X7DqcKqqU
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 18, 2025
NASA officials opted to keep the astronauts on board the ISS rather than rush a return plan, integrating them into the station’s routine crew assignments. Over the course of their extended stay, the astronauts performed spacewalks and contributed to over 200 scientific experiments, adapting to the mission extension despite the uncertainty surrounding their return.
The situation became a political flashpoint when former President Donald Trump accused the Biden administration of having “virtually abandoned” the astronauts in space. In January, Trump stated that he had personally asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to intervene and retrieve them. Musk later claimed that he had offered to bring the astronauts home months earlier, but that the administration had “refused” to allow SpaceX to carry out the mission for “political reasons,” a claim NASA officials denied.
Boeing’s troubled Starliner program has long been plagued by delays, budget overruns, and technical failures. Reuters reported that the program has exceeded its original NASA development contract by $1.5 billion, bringing its total cost to over $4.5 billion. Meanwhile, SpaceX, which received $2.6 billion in NASA funding, has established itself as the industry leader, conducting multiple successful crewed missions and commercial spaceflights. The stark difference in results has intensified scrutiny over NASA’s contractor selection and Boeing’s continued struggles.
The Biden administration has remained largely silent on the issue, but the prolonged stranding of two astronauts has raised questions about NASA’s reliance on Boeing, especially given the company’s repeated failures in both aerospace and defense contracts. Boeing’s struggles with Starliner echo broader challenges the company has faced, from aviation safety concerns to issues with military aircraft and defense projects.
Trump celebrated the astronauts’ safe return, taking to Truth Social on Monday to acknowledge the ordeal. “After eight long months for a mission that was supposed to be eight days, IT IS TIME. I look forward to seeing Butch and Suni, and thank you again to NASA and Janet Petro!” he wrote.
