After being stranded in space for nine months, astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams finally returned home on March 18, 2025, aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Their initial mission, planned to last eight days, extended due to a malfunction with the Boeing Starliner Calypso, which prevented their return from the International Space Station. Over the course of nine months, multiple retrieval attempts failed. Progress was made on March 14 when a replacement SpaceX Crew-10 spacecraft arrived, allowing Wilmore, Williams, and two other astronauts, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, to return. They landed safely near Tallahassee, Florida, and were greeted with smiles and thumbs-up after being checked by medical teams.

Following the astronauts’ return, President Donald Trump made headlines when asked about possible additional compensation for the extra time they spent in space. A reporter noted that the astronauts would not receive overtime pay for their 286-day extension. Trump responded that he would personally pay them if needed, remarking that $1,430 was too little for their ordeal. Doctors have said that Wilmore and Williams will undergo 45 days of rehabilitation to adjust to life back on Earth.