Boeing Starliner Crew return to Earth yesterday

Boeing Starliner crew Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore

Boeing Starliner mission patch

Astronauts Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry Wilmore returned to Earth yesterday, March 18, 2025 after nine months in space.  They launched aboard the Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station in June 2024 for an eight-day mission. However, the Starliner's thrusters malfunctioned as it approached the ISS, and NASA determined it was too risky for the crew to return.  The spacecraft returned uncrewed on September 7, 2024.

SpaceX Crew-9 launched on September 28, 2024 to the ISS with astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.  

The Crew Dragon spacecraft carried all four home.

Happy birthday, astronaut Barry Wilmore!

Barry Wilmore, born December 29, 1962 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has been in space twice, and will return in 2021.

His first trip into space was aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) as pilot to the International Space Station in November 2009. He celebrated Thanksgiving with the other crew members and the residents of the International Space Station.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-10M to the International Space Station in September 2014.  He participated in Expeditions 41 and 42.  He returned to Earth in March 2015 after more than 167 days in space.

He is scheduled to be commander of the Boeing Crewed Flight Test (Boe-CFT), the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station, expected to launch in July 2021.