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.

Soyuz TMA-05M launched 2012

Soyuz TMA-05M crew (L-R): Yuri Malenchenko, Sunita Williams, Akihiko Hoshide

Soyuz TMA-05M, launched July 15, 2012, carried the members of Expedition 32 crew to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Malenchenko, Sunita Williams, and Akihiko Hoshide. The crew participated in Expedition 32 and Expedition 33, before returning to Earth November 19, 2012.

Soyuz TMA-06M (Expedition 33) launched 2012

Soyuz TMA-06M crew (L-R): Kevin Ford, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-06M, launched October 23, 2012, carried members of Expedition 33 to the International Space Station.  The crew consisted of Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Evgeny Tarelkin and Kevin Ford (NASA).

They greeted the residents of the ISS Sunita Williams, Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide.  They remained on board until March 2013 when they returned to Earth.

Happy birthday, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide!

Akihiko Hoshide, born December 28, 1968 in Tokyo, Japan, has flown on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz to the International Space Station.  He is the third Japanese astronaut to conduct an EVA. 

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-124) May-June 2008 as a mission specialist.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-05M, launched in July 2012 to the ISS as part of Expeditions 32 and 33. It was during this time he performed EVAs with Suni Williams.

In 2014, he commanded NEEMO 18, an undersea exploration mission at NASA's Aquarius underwater laboratory.

Discovery (STS-116) launched 2006

Back row (L-R): Robert Curbeam, Nicholas Patrick, Sunita Williams, Christer Fuglesang

Front (L-R): William Oefelein, Joan Higginbotham, Mark Polansky

Mission patch

Discovery (STS-116), launched December 9, 2006 to the International Space Station, had 5 rookie astronauts, the only flight for Joan Higginbotham and the first flight for Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang.  The crew consisted of Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot William Oefelein, Mission Specialist 1 Nicholas Patrick, Mission Specialist 2 Robert Curbeam, Mission Specialist 3 Fuglesang, Mission Specialist 4 Higginbotham and Mission Specialist 5 Sunita Williams.

Discovery's crew performed 4 EVAs over the 14-day mission.  They returned to Earth December 22.  Their wake-up call that morning was Perry Como's Home for the Holidays.