Promise made, promise kept: White House hails return of Crew-9 astronauts, thanks Elon Musk

The White House underscored President Donald Trump's role in prioritizing the return of NASA's stranded Crew-9 astronauts — Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

The White House credited Elon Musk for ensuring their safe splashdown in the Gulf of America.

"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 Elon Musk, SpaceX, and NASA!" the statement read.



Musk congratulated the NASA and SpaceX teams for the mission’s success, thanking Trump for his focus on the rescue effort.

"Congratulations to the SpaceX and NASA teams for another safe astronaut return! Thank you to Donald Trump for prioritizing this mission!" Musk posted.

Earlier in the day, the Crew-9 astronauts emerged from their capsule on stretchers, a standard precaution for long-duration space missions, CNN reported.

The astronauts’ extended stay resulted from delays with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Originally scheduled to return after just one week, Wilmore and Williams remained in orbit for nine months following technical issues during their test flight.

NASA’s Crew-9 safely splashed down off Tallahassee’s coast on Tuesday at 5:57 pm EDT, concluding the agency's ninth commercial crew rotation mission. Teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the capsule and transported the astronauts to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“We are thrilled to have Suni, Butch, Nick, and Aleksandr home after their months-long mission conducting vital science, technology demonstrations, and maintenance aboard the International Space Station,” said NASA Acting Administrator Janet Petro.

Petro credited President Trump’s directive for accelerating their return.

“Per President Trump's direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier. This international crew and our teams on the ground embraced the Trump Administration's challenge of an updated, and somewhat unique, mission plan, to bring our crew home. Through preparation, ingenuity, and dedication, we achieve great things together for the benefit of humanity, pushing the boundaries of what is possible from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars,” Petro added.

The Crew-9 mission marked Aleksandr Gorbunov's first spaceflight. Nick Hague, now with 374 days in space across two missions, joined Sunita Williams (608 days over three flights) and Butch Wilmore (464 days over three flights) in extending their space records.

Williams achieved a career milestone during the mission, setting the record for the most spacewalking time by a female astronaut — 62 hours and 6 minutes — ranking fourth on the all-time spacewalk duration list.

Throughout their mission, the astronauts conducted over 150 experiments and technology demonstrations, dedicating more than 900 hours to research. Their efforts spanned plant growth studies, stem cell research, and the deployment of the first wooden satellite for space research.

Crew-9’s Dragon capsule, Freedom, has now completed four missions and will undergo inspection and refurbishment at SpaceX's Cape Canaveral facility before future assignments.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program continues to focus on secure, cost-effective transportation to the ISS, enhancing research opportunities for future space exploration goals.