Space

Astronauts Who Were Stuck In Space For 9 Months Finally Come Home

But the aftermath is not what you would think

By: Kyler Nguyen, Journalist

March 24, 2025

Two astronauts, Barry Butch and Suni Williams finally return to Earth after 9 Months. However, some bad things are already happening by now to them. This mission went from 10 days to 9 months of hard work in space. Although it seems concerning for Barry and Suni, they are fine. But they have some concerning health conditions.

How This All Started

This mission was called the Starliner mission. This mission is just to show that the rocket that Barry and Suni used was enough to carry astronauts throughout space for long durations and distances. But this is when the rocket goes wrong. At first, everything seems fine. Until a thruster problem was reported in the rocket. So this return date was delayed. However, this is not the only problem. There was already a problem before the launch of the rocket. It was a small helium leak, so it caused some issues in the rocket. So more additional issues continue to delay the return back to Earth for Barry and Suni.

So What Now?

After these issues came up in the rocket, there’s a lot of complicated adjustments. For example, they tested the Starliners thrusters to see if this is safe enough to bring Barry and Suni back home. Later on, NASA announced that Starliner would return without the crew. As time went on, the Starliner successfully returned back to Earth. Since the Starliner had to return to Earth, Barry and Suni had to live in the ISS (International Space Station). As time passed by, it was reported that Suni was suffering from health conditions due to the long duration of space. Later on, she responds that she’s fine. Time goes on and on, and then later on President Donald Trump asked Elon Musk to help get Barry and Suni back home, to which Elon agreed.

The Return of Crew-9

Crew-9’s return date was actually earlier than expected. Crew-9 managed to return to Earth in March 18, 2025. This marks of the end of the journey for Crew-9 after 286 horrific days for Barry and Suni.

The Effects Of The Crew

Despite the exciting safe return for the crew, there are some concerning health conditions for the crew. Each month, you will lose 1 percent of your bone each month, which is equivalent to living an Earth year. Which in my theory, is probably the reason why Suni is rapidly growing white hair. When you also stay too long in space, your body muscles get weaker and your bodily fluids will shift. Which is very concerning. So to get Crew-9 to get used to Earth’s gravity, they will need a lot of physical therapy from now on. Despite that, they are still safe.