This advisory was updated March 17, 2025, to add new NASA+ links for the return coverage events. Additionally, updates to the Return-to-Earth media conference were made, including a change in participants and RSVP deadline for media to attend in-person at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17.
NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for the return of the agency’s Crew-9 mission from the International Space Station. Mission managers are targeting an earlier Crew-9 return opportunity based on favorable conditions forecasted for the evening of Tuesday, March 18. The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, are completing a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory and will return time-sensitive research to Earth.
Mission managers will continue monitoring weather conditions in the area, as Dragon’s undocking depends on various factors, including spacecraft readiness, recovery team readiness, weather, sea states, and other factors. NASA and SpaceX will confirm the specific splashdown location closer to the Crew-9 return.
Watch Crew-9 return activities on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of additional platforms, including social media. For schedule information, visit:
For Crew-9 return, NASA’s live operations coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Monday, March 17
10:45 p.m. – Hatch closing coverage begins on NASA+
Tuesday, March 18
12:45 a.m. – Undocking coverage begins on NASA+
1:05 a.m. – Undocking
Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will switch to audio only.
Pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites, continuous coverage will resume on March 18 on NASA+ prior to the start of deorbit burn.
4:45 p.m. – Return coverage begins on NASA+
5:11 p.m. – Deorbit burn (time is approximate)
5:57 p.m. – Splashdown (time is approximate)
7:30 p.m. – Return-to-Earth media conference on NASA+, with the following participants:
- Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
- Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
- Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
- Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
United States-based media seeking to attend in person must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, at 281-483-5111 or [email protected]. U.S. and international media interested in participating by phone must contact NASA Johnson by 3 p.m. the day of the event. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online.
Find full mission coverage, NASA’s commercial crew blog, and more information about the Crew-9 mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
