Dolphins welcome SpaceXs crew-9 astronauts to Splashdown (video)

The Crew-9 astronauts of SpaceX had a company in the water after they injected down on Tuesday afternoon (March 18).

The crew 9 mission returned to Earth on Tuesday at 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT) and sprayed off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico. A fleet of recovery ships soon met in the dragon capsule of Crew-9 with the name Freedom-Leben like some curious marine mammals who wanted to see this strange object that fell into their domain from heaven.

“WOW!

Dolphins swim near the SpaceX crew 9 capsule freedom shortly after it was put down on March 18, 2025. The person of Freedom Outd is a member of the SpaceX Recovery team. (Photo credit: NASA)

Freedom wore four people – NASA -Astronauten Nick Hague, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore and Aleksandr Gorbunov from the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos – Heimat from the International Space Station (ISS).

Hague and Gorbunov drove on board the Freedom at the end of September, when the SpaceX crew 9 mission started. Williams and Wilmore, on the other hand, reached the ISS on the first crew flight from Boeing's Starliner capsule, which was withdrawn in early June.

Related: How the Starliner mission of NASA was from 10 days to 9 months: a timeline

The Starliner mission should only take 10 days, but the capsule had problems with its drive system and delayed their departure from the ISS several times.

On August 24, NASA finally decided to bring Starliner home, which took place on September 7th, and Williams and Wilmore at the end of the orbital stay of Crew-9 to bring the freedom to go home for their journey home. This decision had to decrease two people from the original crew-9 manifesto (NASA Astronauten Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson) to save seats for the Starliner duo on the return to earth. So the freedom last autumn with only Haag and Gorbunov lifted on board.

Photo of a white space capsule that floats nearby in the ocean with three dolphins and two ships nearby

Another shot of freedom on March 18 with dolphins and recovery ships nearby. (Photo credit: NASA)

The Splashdown from Crew-9 was unforgettable and dramatic before the dolphins appeared. The long Space saga from Wilmore and Williams came to an end, which was a big story from the start, but has recently been charged Turbo.

The additional attention was received with the kind permission of President Donald Trump and the CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk, with a friendly approval, who claimed that the Biden government “practically abandoned” the Starliner duo in space. Musk also claimed that this was done “for political reasons”. The claims were puzzling because the plan to bring Williams and Wilmore to take home via SpaceX has been in operation since August last year.

The return of crew-9 was the last time that a kite capsule near the US east coast would hit the water. SpaceX shifts its dragon restoration operations to the west coast to reduce the chances that debris can cause damage or injuries on the ground.

“I just hope that the California coast can bring as many dolphins as we saw during today's operation,” said Sarah Walker, director of Dragon Mission Management, during a press conference after the Splashdown on Tuesday. “It was really fun to see!”

Dolphins welcome SpaceXs crew-9 astronauts to Splashdown (video)

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