Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore made a safe return to Earth, 286 days after their roughly week-long test mission to the International Space Station was prolonged due to technical issues with their Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore returned to Earth after an unexpected nine-month stay in space. The NASA astronauts, along with fellow American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov safely splashed down off the Florida coast at 5.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday after more than 280 days in space. Their water landing, which came after about a 17-hour voyage, is something of a storybook ending to the Starliner saga that has captivated the nation and recently become the subject of political posturing.