Sunita Williams' Homecoming: Here's how to watch the splashdown of Crew-9 live

NASA Gears Up for SpaceX Crew-9 Return to Earth

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore's short mission turned into a lengthy stay. Originally planned for days, it extended to nine months, keeping them away from home. Now, NASA has confirmed their long-awaited return to Earth for Tuesday evening.

The agency will provide live coverage of Crew-9’s journey home, including hatch closure, undocking, and splashdown. Weather conditions off Florida’s coast remain a key factor in the mission timeline.

Crew-9 Prepares for Departure

NASA and SpaceX reviewed weather conditions on Sunday to determine the best return window. Mission managers are now targeting an earlier return on Tuesday, 18 March, due to favourable forecasts. This schedule allows the departing astronauts to complete handover tasks before less stable conditions develop later in the week.

Crew-9 consists of NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. They have been conducting long-duration research aboard the space station and will bring back critical experiments to Earth.

Mission teams will monitor factors such as spacecraft readiness, weather, and sea conditions before confirming the exact splashdown location.

Live Coverage Schedule

NASA will stream the entire return process on NASA+ and social media platforms. The schedule for live coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to real-time changes):

• Monday, 17 March
  • 10:45 p.m. – Hatch closure coverage begins
  
  


• Tuesday, 18 March
  
  • 12:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins
  • 1:05 a.m. – Undocking
  • After undocking, NASA will provide audio-only updates until deorbit burn.
  • 4:45 p.m. – Full return coverage resumes
  • 5:11 p.m. – Deorbit burn (approximate)
  • 5:57 p.m. – Splashdown (approximate)