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.

Stuck in space no more, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday evening local time, hitching a different ride home to close out a saga that began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago.