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US Edition Women in STEM

How Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Will Re-Adjust To Earth's Gravity

After being stranded in space for over nine months, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore made a splashdown off the Florida coast near Tallahassee at 5:57 p.m. on March 18, 2025.

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Tanya Savkoor
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NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are no longer stranded in space. After being on the International Space Station since June 2024, they made a flawless splashdown off the Florida coast at 5:57 p.m. on March 18, 2025 (3:27 a.m. IST, March 19). In visuals posted by NASA on X, the astronauts cheerfully waved at the cameras as they arrived home after over nine months. They returned aboard SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom capsule on Crew 9, alongside American astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Grebyonkin, who reached the ISS in December 2024.

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The Arrival

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore took off on an eight-day mission aboard the Boeing Starliner. However, due to technical malfunctions, their stay was extended by over nine months. On March 18, the astronauts finally returned to Earth safely, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean near Tallahassee.

In a stunning sight, the four astronauts were welcomed by dolphins surrounding the SpaceX capsule before a recovery vessel arrived to receive them. Rescue teams swiftly reached the capsule, ensuring the astronauts' well-being before they were transported back to land.

The White House credited the Donald Trump administration for expediting Williams and Wilmore's safe return. "PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT!" they wrote on X. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared, "Thank you @POTUS (President of the United States) for prioritizing this mission!"

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How NASA Prepares For Re-Entry

NASA's Entry Systems & Technology Division plays a crucial role in designing systems that ensure a safe return to Earth. The Ames Research Centre in California has been at the forefront of reentry technology since 1961. Here are the reentry technologies and measures taken by NASA.

  • Heat Shields - These protective barriers absorb and dissipate heat. Materials like Avcoat (used in Apollo missions and the Orion Crew Capsule) and Phenolic-Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) help prevent overheating. SpaceX even developed its own version, PICA-X, for the Dragon capsule.
  • Arc Jet Testing - At Ames' Arc Jet Complex, NASA scientists recreate the scorching heat of atmospheric entry, subjecting heat shields to plasma hotter than the Sun's surface.
  • Computer Simulations - Supercomputers model reentry dynamics to predict and solve technical challenges before missions launch.
  • ADEPT and HEEET - New materials and deployable heat shields, like HEEET (Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology) and ADEPT (Adaptable, Deployable Entry Placement Technology), aim to enhance spacecraft protection for missions to Mars, Venus, and beyond.

Recuperation

As the Crew-9 team returned to Earth after nine months, they will face some health implications after staying for months in microgravity or 'zero-G'. These include baby feet, dizziness, nausea, bone loss and muscle loss among others. 

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Images: NASA

The astronauts will undergo a 45-day rehabilitation programme as they re-adjust to gravity. The Astronaut Strength, Conditioning and Rehabilitation (ASCR) specialists have administered a program focusing on all deficits, which improves the physical condition of all returning astronauts.

Reconditioning begins on landing day, two hours a day, seven days a week, and is tailored to the needs of each astronaut. The program includes three phases, focusing on flexibility, muscle strengthening, functional development, proprioceptive exercise and cardiovascular conditioning. 

World Celebrates The Return

As Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore made an anticipated safe splashdown, congratulatory messages flooded social media. Before their return, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi penned a letter to Sunita Williams, who is of Indian heritage. Her ancestral village in Gujarat also erupted in celebration.

Sunita Williams' cousin in Gujarat expresses pride

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Astronaut who walked on the moon congratulates the astronauts

Indian ministers congratulate Williams and Wilmore

Sunita Williams