On Tuesday, two NASA astronauts who had been in orbit since June, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, splashed down in calm, azure waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, concluding a saga that had captivated the country since last summer.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule for a long-awaited trip back to Earth, nine months after their faulty Boeing Starliner craft upended what was to be a roughly week-long test mission.

Two NASA astronauts who were stranded in space for a harrowing nine months just splashed down safely off the coast of Florida in an event that was livestreamed by the American space agency. Sunita "Suni" Williams and Butch Wilmore were only slated to be on the International Space Station for eight days but were stuck there for nine months after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft experienced several malfunctions.