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The two Boeing Starliner astronauts who spent months on the International Space Station have finally splashed down off the coast of Florida – before their capsule was incredibly greeted by a pod of dolphins.
The pair’s SpaceX Dragon capsule undocked from the orbital laboratory before hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere at 28,000kmh and parachuting into the sea.
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Just before 9.20 am (AEDT), the spacecraft was loaded aboard recovery vessel Megan, bringing an end to one of the most high-profile incidents in NASA’s history.
The space agency last year decided to return the Boeing-made spacecraft uncrewed following a string of technical problems.
It meant the two astronauts onboard – Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams – spent nine months in space despite initially planning to be on the International Space Station for just one week.
“And splashdown … Crew 9 back on Earth,” SpaceX announced. “On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home.”
Astronaut Nick Hague, who was also on the return trip with Wilmore and Williams, said, “It’s been an amazing ride… Grins here from ear to ear.”
Shortly after the splashdown, a pod of dolphins arrived to inspect the Dragon capsule in a picture-perfect moment.
The return comes after a Falcon 9 was sent to retrieve the pair on Friday, following SpaceX teams fixing a hydraulic system issue that postponed the flight initially.
The problem affected the clamps that held the rocket on the pad, and the team was worried that should they not open evenly, it could have caused the rocket to tip slightly.
While NASA’s Ken Bowersox told ABC News in the US there was a low probability of a serious failure, they nonetheless decided not to take the risk.
Their return was speeded up by weeks after SpaceX swapped the mission capsule destined to be used by Crew 10 to a previously used model.
While the spacecraft, known as Endeavour, still needed to pass a flight readiness assessment, the process was far more efficient than the “complete processing” required if a fresh vehicle was deployed.
The surprisingly long duration in space, though, meant that Williams was able to clock up nine spacewalks over her whole career, or 62 hours in duration.
She now holds the record for the most time spent spacewalking over a career among female astronauts.
