NASA’s Crew-9 Prepares for Return from Space Station

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2025 — NASA is set to provide live coverage of its SpaceX Crew-9 mission as it prepares to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). The broadcast will start at 10:45 p.m. EDT on Monday, March 17, with coverage of the Dragon spacecraft hatch closure.

Following Sunday’s meeting between NASA and SpaceX to assess weather and splashdown conditions off the Florida coast, mission managers are targeting an earlier than planned return for Crew-9, now scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, March 18. This adjustment allows the crew ample time to complete handover duties while maintaining flexibility ahead of predicted poor weather later in the week.

Aboard the ISS are NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The crew has been conducting a long-duration science mission and is ready to bring back time-sensitive research to Earth.

NASA highlighted that Dragon’s undocking is contingent upon various factors, including spacecraft and recovery team readiness, weather, and sea conditions. The specific splashdown site will be confirmed closer to the return time.

“Mission managers will continually monitor weather conditions in the area,” NASA officials stated, emphasizing that undocking depends on a range of operational factors.

The planned schedule for Crew-9’s return, all times in Eastern and subject to change, includes:

• Monday, March 17
  10:45 p.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins
• Tuesday, March 18
  12:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins
  1:05 a.m. – Undocking occurs

Following undocking, continuous coverage will resume around 4:45 p.m. on March 18 before deorbiting. The deorbit burn is scheduled for approximately 5:11 p.m., leading to a splashdown at around 5:57 p.m.

A return-to-Earth media conference is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on March 18, where members of the media wishing to attend in person must contact NASA’s Johnson Space Center by 1 p.m. the same day.

The Crew-9 astronauts will be concluding what was initially planned as a short mission, extended due to delays involving another spacecraft. The team had launched to the ISS in June aboard Boeing’s Starliner, but thruster issues required an uncrewed return for that mission, leading to Crew-9’s unexpected duration in low Earth orbit.

“We’re excited to be heading home,” said Wilmore, reflecting on the mission’s challenges and accomplishments. “The training we underwent has truly prepared us for any scenario out there.”