NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have returned to Earth from a weeklong mission at the International Space Station that turned into an unexpectedly extended stay.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams left the International Space Station after nine months in space, checking out with two other astronauts. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening,

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have nearly half a century of combined experience as astronauts. But this is just their third time in space. Ms. Williams was born in Ohio but grew up in Massachusetts. She was a test pilot in the U.S. Navy and has spent more than 3,000 hours flying 30 different aircraft. She was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1998.