Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were stranded at the International Space Station for nine months after they were forced to abandon Boeing Starliner due to thruster issues, are finally back on Earth after a successful splashdown Tuesday at 5:57 p.

Long-delayed Starliner astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams and two space station crewmates braced for a fiery plunge back to Earth on Tuesday to finally close out a repeatedly extended nine-and-a-half-month space odyssey.

Starliner crewmates Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth with Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov on the Dragon "Freedom."