After an almost 17-hour journey back home to planet Earth, Suni and Butch have successfully landed.

Relive the splashdown moment in the video below:

Rebecca Morelle
Science editor

Repeatedly speeding around the Earth, seeing 16 sunrises and sunsets every day, it’s no surprise an astronaut’s thoughts are often on what they miss at home.

In interviews while in space, Butch and Suni said they were missing the simple things in life.

For Butch it was the smell of freshly cut grass, while Suni said she missed swimming in the ocean - and her husband’s lattes.

Garret Reisman, a former Nasa astronaut, told me it was pizza he missed while in space.

“We have no thick bread up in space because it makes too many crumbs, and they go everywhere!”

But he added that once he got home - like many astronauts, he was left with a longing.

“Then you miss the little things about being up in space - you miss the view out the window, you miss the ability to fly most of all.

“But there's certain things you don't miss, like using the bathroom up in space. I don't miss that at all.”

Rebecca Morelle
Science editor

Image source, NASA

Wow what a sight. Amazing images of the capsule, against a perfect blue sky. What a day for the astronauts to come home to.

Rebecca Morelle
Science editor

Image source, NASA

The recovery team have sped in their “fast boats” to the capsule to complete the first safety checks and retrieve the parachutes.

Then the SpaceX recovery vessel - which is located about two miles away from the landing site - will make its way to the craft.

The spacecraft will be lifted onto that ship, and the hatch opened up - allowing the crew to take in their first breaths of fresh air after many months in space.

The four astronauts will then be assisted out of the craft - after so long living in a weightless environment, it’s going to take a while for their limbs to work properly.

After the craft in the ocean, the astronauts were greeted with the line from the control centre: "Nick, Alec, Butch, Suni - on behalf of SpaceX, welcome home."

"What a ride," responds Commander Nick Hague.

"I see a capsule full of grins, ear to ear."

Image source, NASA

The capsule has now landed in the ocean off the coast of Florida.

In a matter of minutes, it slowed down from more than 17,000mph to stationary, bobbing in the ocean back on Earth.

Next it will be picked up by a recovery ship, then the crew will board a chopper to be brought back to terra firma.

Image source, NASA

We're hearing now that the two initial parachutes have been deployed.

The crew will have experienced a jolt inside, but this allows the craft to slow down enough for a gentle splash down in the ocean.

Seconds later, the full four parachutes are visible.

Image source, NASA

To remind you, the spacecraft is flying autonomously. This means that the astronauts on board are sitting back and monitoring progress, but not directly steering anything.

Tablets have now been stowed and they have lowered the visors on their helmets. They can continue to monitor developments on a touchscreen in front of them.

The communications blackout which happens when the capsule re-enters the atmosphere has now started.

The loss of signal from the Dragon capsule is expected and is completely normal when a spacecraft returns to Earth.

During this time plasma builds up around the heat shield, with rising temperatures of 3,500F (1,927C)

The signal will return at 21:51 GMT (17:51 ET).

Rebecca Morelle
Science editor

Image source, Reuters

In February, the saga of Butch and Suni attracted the attention of Donald Trump and his close ally, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

In an interview with Fox News, they claimed the astronauts were left in space for political reasons.

Musk also claimed on X that SpaceX could have brought Butch and Suni back sooner, and that the Biden Administration had turned his offer down.

But Nasa officials said their decisions were based on flight scheduling and the space station’s needs. Garrett Reisman, a former Nasa astronaut and former director of space operations at SpaceX, told me that there were good reasons why Nasa didn’t opt for a dedicated rescue mission.

“It wasn't going to reduce the amount of time that Butch and Suni spent in space by very much - I mean, you'd shave a couple of months off, so the benefit wasn't that great,” he said.

And the cost was high - these crew missions cost hundreds of millions of dollars... I think Butch and Suni would have been the first ones to say ‘no, that's not worth it’.”

In India, we've seen images of people praying for the safe return of Sunita Williams, who was born in Ohio to parents originally from India.

At a temple in her family's ancestral village of Jhulasan, about 50kms from Ahmedabad, residents have been seen lighting incense and displaying photos of the two returning astronauts.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, NASA

The capsule's nose cone has now closed. This is the last physical change that happens aboard the craft.

Now that this has happened "things are going to move pretty quickly", Nasa says.

Soon we'll be entering a few minutes of silence where communication with capsule cuts out during re-entry.

Rebecca Morelle
Science editor

Image source, NASA

Butch and Suni left the space station with Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Hague and Gorbunov arrived at the space station in September on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

There were supposed to be four astronauts on that mission – but Nasa took the decision to fly with a crew of two, which left two seats spare for Butch and Suni to come home in.

After the arrival of Hague and Gorbunov, Butch and Suni became incorporated into their crew – known as crew nine – and now the four are all flying back together.

This was cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov’s first trip to space, while Nasa’s Nick Hague spent 203 days on the space station in 2019.

The de-orbit burn is complete and the crew are now about 20 minutes away from splashing down.

When they are at the right speed and altitude, two sets of parachutes will deploy to slow down the descent.

The first two parachutes will deploy when the craft reaches an altitude of 18,000ft.

The second batch of parachutes will deploy when the ship is at 6,500ft.

When the craft hits the water, it will be travelling at approximately 16mph, and the astronauts will experience forces about three to five times the force of gravity.

After their capsule is recovered, the crew will be scooped up by a helicopter to be brought back to solid ground.

In order for the helicopter to land on the recovery ship, winds have to be below about 10mph and seas need to be relatively calm.

Image source, Nasa

In September, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft completed its journey back to Earth, travelling in autonomous mode after undocking from the orbiting lab and leaving the crew behind.

Starliner was plagued with problems soon after it blasted off on its test flight with Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 5 June.

The capsule experienced leaks of helium, which pushes fuel into the propulsion system, and several of its thrusters did not work properly.

Starliner’s crewed flight had already been delayed for several years because of setbacks in its development and technical problems in two previous uncrewed flights in 2019 and 2022.

Rebecca Morelle
Science editor

Image source, EPA

Butch and Suni were the first astronauts to fly on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

But the test flight was plagued with problems soon after it blasted off. The capsule experienced helium leaks, a gas that pushes fuel into the propulsion system, and several of its thrusters didn’t work properly.

Nasa said it was too risky to take the astronauts home, so instead Starliner returned to Earth empty, landing safely in the desert of New Mexico.

Nasa officials recently said they were making good progress in fully understanding what went wrong with the test flight, and expected Starliner to fly again towards the end of the year or early in 2026.

However, the issues with Starliner have no doubt been a blow to Boeing.

The aerospace company was already suffering from financial losses as it struggled to repair its reputation following recent in-flight incidents and two fatal accidents five years ago.

Boeing argued against Nasa’s decision to return the capsule empty - and they are now having to watch Butch and Suni return to Earth in rival company SpaceX’s spacecraft instead of their own.

Nasa earlier published this map of the track the astronauts will take as they fly over Mexico and towards Florida.

We're just under 40 minutes away from splashdown.

And a reminder that you can click watch live at the top of this page to follow their journey.

Image source, NASA

The weather where the crew will splashdown is ideal right now, according to Nasa.

The craft will splash into waters off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, during daylight hours.

The current temperature at the Tallahassee airport is 80F (27C), according to the National Weather Service.

Humidity is currently 10%, with winds from the south travelling at 3mph.

Visibility is 10 miles (16km), with no rain in the forecast until Wednesday night.

"De-orbit sequence starts" - This was the announcement we just heard from ground control.

It shows that the weather is good in the splashdown zone and they are happy to land.