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.

SpaceX's ninth operational crew return from the International Space Station is set to splash down on Tuesday, March 18, at about 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT).