Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two NASA astronauts, have returned to Earth after nine months in orbit. Four parachutes unfurled to bring them to a soft splashdown off the coast of Florida after their SpaceX capsule made a swift and violent re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere. Dolphins circled the craft in a pod.<\/p>\n
Together with cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and fellow crew members astronaut Nick Hague, the astronauts waved and grinned as they were assisted out of the hatch after a recovery ship hoisted it out of the sea.<\/p>\n
During a press briefing, Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, stated that the crew was doing quite well. It concludes a mission that was only meant to last eight days.<\/p>\n
Following technical issues with the spacecraft Butch and Suni had used to go to the ISS, it was drastically extended. Deputy Associate Administrator Joel Montalbano of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate stated, “It’s great to have crew 9 home. It was a beautiful landing.” He praised the crew’ adaptability and tenacity, saying SpaceX has been a “great partner. After spending so much time in the weightless atmosphere, the astronauts were assisted onto a stretcher, as is customary.<\/p>\n
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