NASA releases incredible new photos of astronauts emerging from secret medical tests - and they've already made major breakthrough

The first images of the stranded NASA astronauts after their triumphant return to Earth have been released.

NASA's Johnson Space Center tweeted out pictures of Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore emerging from an airplane in Houston just after 12am ET Wednesday.

In the photos, the duo were seen already making a surprising recovery from their nine-month ordeal - walking under their own power in normal gravity.

Experts had previously said that Williams and Wilmore would likely need to be stretchered or have medics assist them while they adjusted to being outside of a zero-gravity environment for the first time since June 2024.

The new images show Butch Wilmore, now clean-shaven after sporting a beard in space, hugging his fellow NASA comrades in Houston.

Meanwhile, Suni Williams was pictured shaking hands with NASA officials - but was noticeably frail and still had an IV drip in her arm to receive fluids.

It's the first time the duo was photographed after their historic return Tuesday evening off the coast of Florida.

After recovery teams retrieved their SpaceX Dragon capsule from the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico), Williams, Wilmore, NASA's Nick Hague, and Russia's Aleksandr Gorbunov were taken for medical testing.

The new NASA images also captured Hague and Gorbunov's return to the Johnson Space Center late last night.

The two astronauts arrived at the International Space Station in the Crew-9 Dragon capsule in September.

This is a developing story. More details to come.