NASA Crew-9 departs ISS for Earth live: Here's when they splash down off Florida's coast

Hours after NASA and SpaceX's Crew-10 mission arrived at the International Space Station, Crew-9 boarded the Dragon spacecraft and undocked from the ISS en route back to Earth. 

It marks the conclusion of Crew-9's mission, which consisted of four astronauts: NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were part of Boeing's successful, but flawed, Starliner mission to the ISS. What was to be a week-long visit, turned into a nearly 9-month stay aboard the ISS.

Crew-9's return to Earth: Watch live, steam live

You can watch SpaceX's Dragon capsule undock from the International Space Station's Harmony Module in the live NASA feed above. 

The hatch between SpaceX's Dragon capsule and the International Space Station closed at 11:05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday. Dragon undocked from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday morning.

You can watch NASA's live coverage of the journey in the X post below. Audio-only coverage will begin shortly after Dragon reaches orbit. NASA will resume streaming coverage at 4:45 p.m. 

When does Crew-9 return to Earth? Where will they splashdown?

The Dragon capsule with Crew-9 aboard is expected to splash down off the coast of Florida on Tuesday evening. The estimated time is 5:57 p.m., according to NASA.

SpaceX said it should take about 17 hours to arrive back on Earth after undocking from the ISS. 

How long were Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on the ISS?

Timeline:

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore launched to the ISS on June 5, 2024, part of a test flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. It arrived at the ISS on June 6.

The two NASA astronauts were supposed to be aboard the Space Station for about eight days, Boeing said. That ultimately turned into nine months. Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth without its crew due to safety concerns in September 2024. Williams and Wilmore are now returning to Earth aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

• June 2024: Wilmore and Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner for what was supposed to be a week-long mission.
• Over the summer: Helium leaks and thruster failures prevented their return, prompting months of investigation.
• September 2024: NASA ruled Starliner unsafe for crewed return and arranged for Wilmore and Williams to fly home on a SpaceX mission.
• February 2025: Their scheduled return was delayed again due to battery issues with SpaceX’s new capsule.
• March 2025: NASA switched to a used SpaceX capsule to expedite their homecoming, with launch occurring Friday night and arrival at the ISS expected late Saturday.
• March 18: Dragon with Crew-9 aboard undocked from the International Space Station en route back to Earth. A splashdown is expected off the coast of Florida on Tuesday evening at approximately 5:57 p.m.