Our Bureau
Ahmedabad
People in Jhulasan, the native village of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, celebrated her safe return to Earth on Wednesday by performing aarti and offering prayers after she spent nearly nine months in space.
The celebrations began after the successful splashdown of the Dragon spacecraft, which brought Williams back to Earth along with Crew-9 members Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Earlier, the cousin of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Dinesh Rawal, organized a ‘Yagna’ in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to pray for her safe return.
Earlier on Wednesday, NASA Crew-9 astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov breathed earthly air for the first time in over nine months after the successful splashdown of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.
The astronauts disembarked the capsule on stretchers, as is customary, CNN reported. This precaution is taken by SpaceX for all astronauts returning from long-duration space missions.
Meanwhile, The Dragon spacecraft has successfully splashed down, marking the return of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams along with Crew-9 members Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov after spending nearly nine months in space, SpaceX confirmed.
Following the landing, NASA astronaut Nick Hague delivered his first message to mission control. While the audio was somewhat unclear, Hague could be heard saying that the crew was “grinning ear to ear,” CNN reported.
“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed – welcome back to Earth, Nick, Suni, Butch, and Aleks!” SpaceX announced in a post on X.
NASA commentator Sandra Jones described the landing scene, stating, “There’s just breathtaking views of a calm, glass-like ocean.”
The crew’s highly anticipated return came after the crew climbed aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and departed the International Space Station at 1:05 am ET.
