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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Science
Richard Luscombe in Miami

Nasa astronauts back on Earth after being stuck months on ISS: ‘grins, ear to ear’

Woman in spacesuit waves, smiling
Astronaut Suni Williams waves after returning to Earth with three others onboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule. Photograph: NASA/Reuters

Two Nasa astronauts stuck onboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024 finally arrived back on Earth on Tuesday evening, more than nine months after the failure of Boeing’s pioneering Starliner capsule scuppered their originally scheduled week-long mission.

A SpaceX Dragon capsule containing four astronauts, including Starliner’s test pilots Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tallahassee, at 5.57pm ET (9.57pm GMT) after a 17-hour descent.

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