SpaceX's Crew-9 Returns to Earth with Dolphin Escort, Ending Extended Starliner Mission Saga

SpaceX's Crew-9 mission concluded on Tuesday, March 18, with the Dragon capsule Freedom splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Tallahassee, Florida. The return was marked by the presence of a pod of dolphins, observed by SpaceX engineer Kate Tice during the NASA-SpaceX webcast. The capsule carried NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, marking the end of their stay on the International Space Station (ISS). Hague and Gorbunov launched to the ISS aboard Freedom in late September as part of the Crew-9 mission. Williams and Wilmore had arrived earlier via Boeing's Starliner capsule, a mission extended due to propulsion system issues. Originally slated for a 10-day duration, the Starliner mission's delays led NASA to bring the capsule back uncrewed on September 7. Williams and Wilmore were then reassigned to Freedom for their return. The decision necessitated removing two astronauts from the original Crew-9 manifest. The return also marks the final East Coast splashdown for SpaceX's Dragon capsule, with future recovery operations moving to the West Coast to mitigate potential debris risks.