Astronaut Suni Williams Reunites With Her Dogs in Touching Video After 9 Months in Space
The two dogs were elated to see Williams after all this time.
Published April 3 2025, 3:57 p.m. ET
Amid an arduous period of being stuck in space, astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Butch Wilmore bided their time in fascinating ways. After nine long months — a period of 286 days, significantly longer than the weeklong mission they signed up for — the pair were greeted by dolphins upon splashdown.
In addition to the fanfare the duo has received upon their return, it is often lost in the conversation that companion animals may feel anxiousness as their humans leave for extended periods, too.
Now that the astronauts returned home, their respective families — those with fur, and those without — understandably feel elation upon seeing them. Free from the politicization of the prolonged journey, the anxiousness of when the mission would finally conclude, and the restlessness and homesickness while being away from family, the pair can finally relax with their families.
In a video posted by Williams to her X account, the pure bliss experienced by her companion dogs is perfectly captured.
Astronaut Suni Williams is reunited with her dogs after nine months in space.
After nine excruciating months, Williams is finally home to be with her loved ones and companion animals. Stranded at the International Space Station after the Starliner spacecraft's thrusters failed, Williams and Wilmore returned home aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, per NBC News.
Fascinatingly, upon the pair's long-awaited return home, they were first greeted during splashdown by a pod of curious dolphins.
The welcome party didn't stop there. Although Williams was holding one beloved companion dog in an interview with WCNC Charlotte, it was the remarkably joyous, heartwarming greeting from Williams's other companion dogs that elicited the caption "Best homecoming ever!" to the video Williams shared to her X account on April 1.
The Needham, Mass. native is shown in the video excitedly greeting her two companion dogs, Rotor and Gunner.
As one excitedly jumps on Williams and soaks in the warmth of her presence, the other, unable to contain his joy, seeks out a stick and happily brings it to Williams while rubbing against her.
As if the two excited pups needed any more prompting to become even more elated, Williams indulges the two with sweet words and lots of head and belly scratches. "Are you showing off?" Williams asks the dogs, before calling them "my little bad boys."
According to CBS News, Williams had long been looking forward to reuniting with the dogs during the extensive period stuck in space.
"I wanted to hug my husband and hug my dogs, and I'll say in that order [...] but maybe not," Williams joked, per CBS News.
"That is the biggest thing that I want to pass down, particularly to kids who think that their life should be this straight arrow to what you want to do and you're just going to get there," she added. "Well sometimes it takes some turns, some rights, and some lefts, so you just keep focused on your goal, and other doors might be opened for you. That's the biggest message."