NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have successfully returned to Earth after spending nearly nine months in space. The duo, who had been stuck in orbit since June last year, faced multiple challenges but finally landed off Florida’s coast in the early hours of Wednesday, as per Indian time.
NASA’s recovery team was on-site, ready with a boat to safely bring the astronauts back. During this historic moment, an unexpected and breathtaking sight unfolded— a pod of dolphins surrounded Sunita Williams’ capsule, seemingly celebrating their arrival.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center shared a video capturing this moment, captioning it, “The unplanned welcome crew! After splashing down this afternoon, Crew-9 received some unexpected visitors.”
After detaching from the International Space Station’s Harmony module on Tuesday morning, the Crew-9 astronauts boarded the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for their journey home.
In an official statement, NASA confirmed that all astronauts were in good health and would undergo medical observation. The agency praised the U.S. Coast Guard for efficiently retrieving the crew from the sea. Following their successful return, SpaceX founder Elon Musk congratulated both NASA and SpaceX teams, acknowledging their efforts in ensuring another astronaut’s safe journey back to Earth. Musk also expressed gratitude to former President Donald Trump for prioritizing this mission.
