NASA has shared the first images of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams following their return from an epic nine-month space mission that was only supposed to have lasted eight days.

The pair were photographed alongside fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who were also part of SpaceX’s Crew-9 crew that returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday.

The images of Wilmore and Williams were captured after the pair arrived at the Johnson Space Center in Houston following their splashdown off the coast of Florida earlier in the day.

Looking well, and standing unaided despite spending such a long time in microgravity conditions, Wilmore was shown with a big smile on his face as he greeted officials at the space center.

Williams, also standing, was seen smiling as she stepped off the aircraft:

The two astronauts reached orbit aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. But the vehicle’s first-ever crewed flight experienced issues with its thrusters as it made its way to the ISS. While it was able to safely dock, engineers were unable to confidently resolve the technical issues and decided to bring back the spacecraft empty, a decision that left Wilmore and Williams waiting nine months for a ride home.

The experienced astronauts were just fine, however, and were able to live and work alongside their fellow ISS crewmembers as they did on their previous long-duration missions aboard the orbital outpost.

Wilmore and Williams were given two seats on the SpaceX’s Crew-9 Crew Dragon spacecraft, which arrived at the space station in September last year, bringing Hague and Gorbunov  for a six-month stay.

All four astronauts returned home early on Wednesday, splashing down off the coast of Florida. In an unexpected end to an unexpected mission, the crew were greeted by a pod of curious dolphins shortly after landing in the water.