Crew 9 Return Date: NASA, SpaceX gear up for homecoming with Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore on March 18

NASA and Elon Musk-owned SpaceX are preparing for the return of the Crew-9 mission from the International Space Station (ISS), targeting an earlier-than-expected evening touchdown on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

After evaluating weather conditions off Florida’s coast on Sunday, mission managers decided to aim for an earlier return than originally planned, with favourable conditions expected.

The new timing allows the astronauts to complete their handover duties aboard the ISS and offers a bit of flexibility in case weather conditions worsen later in the week.


The Crew-9 astronauts include NASA’s Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

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Williams and Wilmore have been stranded on the ISS for nine months due to technical issues and several unsuccessful attempts to bring them back prior to the Crew-9 mission were unsucessful.

Final confirmation & live coverage

While the return is slated for March 18, a number of factors will still be monitored before final confirmation.

These include spacecraft readiness, recovery team availability, sea conditions, and the weather at the splashdown site. NASA and SpaceX will provide updates on the exact location as the event approaches, the former said in a media release.

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Moreover, the crew’s journey back to Earth will be broadcast live starting at 10:45 pm EDT (8:15 am IST) on Monday, March 17, when the spacecraft hatch is closed in preparation for undocking.

How to follow Crew-9's return

NASA will broadcast the return process live, with key moments including:

Monday, March 17:

• 10:45 p.m. EDT (8:15 am IST): Coverage begins with hatch closure preparations on NASA+.

Tuesday, March 18:

• 12:45 am EDT (10:15 am IST): Live coverage of undocking starts on NASA+.
• 1:05 am EDT (10:35 am IST): The Crew-9 spacecraft will undock from the ISS.
  • After undocking, NASA will switch to audio-only coverage.
• 4:45 pm EDT (2:15 am, Monday IST): Coverage picks up again on NASA+ in anticipation of the return.
• 5:11 pm EDT (2:41 am, Monday IST):Approximate time for deorbit burn.
• 5:57 pm EDT (3:27 am, Monday IST): The Crew-9 spacecraft is expected to splash down in the ocean.

Later in the evening, at 7:30 pm EDT (5:00 am IST, Monday), NASA will hold a media conference about the return, with key participants including:

• Joel Montalbano, Deputy Associate Administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Steve Stich, Manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
• Jeff Arend, Manager for Systems Engineering and Integration, NASA’s ISS Office
• Sarah Walker, Director of Dragon Mission Management at SpaceX

This will be a significant milestone as NASA and SpaceX continue their collaboration to bring the Crew-9 astronauts safely back to Earth, concluding their mission while returning valuable research data from the ISS.