A SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship carrying Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams -- alongside fellow American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov -- streaked through the atmosphere before deploying parachutes for a gentle splashdown off the Florida coast at 5:57 pm (2157 GMT).
Ground teams erupted in cheers as the gumdrop-shaped spacecraft named Freedom, charred from withstanding scorching temperatures of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius) during re-entry, bobbed steadily on the waves beneath a clear, sunny sky.
"What a ride -- I see a capsule full of grins," said Hague.
As fast boats raced to the capsule for initial safety checks -- an unlikely escort arrived in the form of a playful pod of dolphins.
Soon after, a larger recovery vessel hoisted Freedom aboard. Teams opened the hatch, and one by one, the astronauts were helped out onto mobility aids, waving and flashing thumbs-up signs.
Next, they will be flown by helicopter to Houston, where they will be able to meet their families in another day or two, and begin a physical rehabilitation program.
"PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT," the White House posted on X, repeating a contentious claim that President Donald Trump's administration had accelerated the recovery timeline.
- 'Unbelievable resilience' -
The quartet left the International Space Station early Sunday, beginning their 17-hour journey home after final farewells and hugs with the remaining crew.
Wilmore and Williams, both ex-Navy pilots and veterans of two prior space missions, flew to the orbital lab in June last year, on what was supposed to be a days-long roundtrip to test out Boeing's Starliner on its first crewed flight.
However, propulsion issues rendered the spacecraft unfit for their return, forcing it to return empty.
They were subsequently reassigned to NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which arrived at the ISS last September with a reduced crew of two -- rather than the usual four -- to accommodate the pair, who had become widely referred to as the "stranded" astronauts.
With Crew-10 docking Sunday, Crew-9 was finally cleared to depart. Wilmore and Williams' 286-day stay exceeds the typical six-month ISS rotation but ranks sixth among US records. Frank Rubio holds the longest single-mission U.S. stay at 371 days, while Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov retains the world record at 437 days.
Despite the challenges of prolonged spaceflight -- including muscle and bone loss, vision issues, and balance readjustment -- experts say their nine-month stay is manageable in terms of health risks.
However, the unexpected nature of their extended mission, initially without sufficient supplies, sparked public sympathy.
"If you found out you went to work today and were going to be stuck in your office for the next nine months, you might have a panic attack," Joseph Keebler, a psychologist at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told AFP.
"These individuals have shown unbelievable resilience."
- Political flashpoint -
It also became a political lightning rod, with President Trump and his close advisor, Elon Musk -- who leads SpaceX -- repeatedly suggesting former president Joe Biden abandoned the astronauts and refused an earlier rescue plan.
Such accusations have prompted an outcry in the space community, especially as Musk offered no specifics, and the fundamental NASA's plan for the astronauts' return has remained unchanged since their Crew-9 reassignment.
Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, confirmed during a post-mission press conference that there had been no discussions about deploying a relief crew sooner -- and that the most recent scheduling delays were due to SpaceX's own scheduling adjustments.
Trump has also drawn attention for his bizarre remarks, referring to Williams, who holds the US record for the second-longest cumulative time in space, as "the woman with the wild hair" and speculating about the personal dynamic between the two.
"They've been left up there -- I hope they like each other, maybe they love each other, I don't know," he said during a recent White House press conference.
ia/md
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