White House on Tuesday said “promise made and promise kept” after a pair of astronauts stranded in space for more than nine months were finally headed home after their capsule undocked from the International Space Station (ISS).
In a post on X, the White House said, “PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months. Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA!”
Also read: WATCH: First images of Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore back on Earth emerge, they receive medical checks
The SpaceX craft carrying Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams detached from the orbital outpost at 0505 GMT, ending their prolonged mission. The NASA duo are joined onboard by American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk congratulated the teams of his own company, SpaceX, and also the US space agency NASA “for another safe astronaut return”.
“Thank you to @POTUS for prioritizing this mission,!” wrote Musk.
PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months.
Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA! pic.twitter.com/r01hVWAC8S
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 18, 2025
Congratulations to the @SpaceX and @NASA teams for another safe astronaut return!
Thank you to @POTUS for prioritizing this mission! https://t.co/KknFDbh59s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2025
NASA hails ‘clean’ splashdown
“It was a really clean undocking, reentry, and landing,” NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said during a news conference after the capsule splashed down off the coast of Florida.
Also read: ‘Carried out on stretcher’: NASA’s Sunita Williams takes first breath of fresh air after 9 months
Politics around the astronauts
The whole process was politicised as President Donald Trump and Musk faced accusations of spreading misinformation about the situation. They had been claiming that the astronauts were “stranded” and “abandoned” by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden’s administration.
In a post on X, Musk said that his company SpaceX “could have sent up another Dragon [spacecraft] and brought” back the astronauts “stuck in space” home six months ago.
But, he claimed, “the Biden White House [not NASA] refused to allow it.”
Also read: ‘Splashdown’: NASA’s Sunita Williams successfully lands on Earth, Crew Dragon maintains 100% safety record
Trump faces flak
Trump has drawn attention for his bizarre remarks, referring to Williams, a decorated former naval captain, as “the woman with the wild hair” and speculating about the personal dynamic between the two.
“They’ve been left up there — I hope they like each other, maybe they love each other, I don’t know,” he once said during a White House press conference.
Also read: NASA’s Sunita Williams is back! Check the timeline of a 9-day space mission that turned into a 9-month nightmare
(With inputs from agencies)