NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore finally returned to Earth after nine long months in space. Along with them were NASA's Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who were part of the space agency's Crew-9.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), tech-billionaire Elon Musk congratulated SpaceX and NASA teams for the safe return of astronauts on Earth. He also thanked US President Donald Trump for prioritizing the mission.
He wrote, "Congratulations to the @SpaceX and @NASA teams for another safe astronaut return!"
"Thank you to @POTUS for prioritizing this mission!", Musk added.
There were a few tense minutes as the Dragon spacecraft approached the Earth's atmosphere and entered the exosphere, the topmost layer of the atmosphere. As the spacecraft hurtled towards the Earth through the atmosphere, it experienced a significant drag.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the four astronauts splashed off the coast of Florida.
White House On NASA Astronauts Return To Earth
The White House also thanked SpaceX, NASA, and Elon Musk after the stranded astronauts splashed down off the coast of Florida after their unexpected extended stay in space.
The White House also mentioned how Trump promised to rescue the NASA astronauts stranded in space for nine months, which has now been fulfilled. Trump also shared the splashdown moment of the astronauts on his social media platform Truth Social, but without writing anything about it in the caption.
"PROMISE MADE, PROMISE KEPT: President Trump pledged to rescue the astronauts stranded in space for nine months. Today, they safely splashed down in the Gulf of America, thanks to @ElonMusk, @SpaceX, and @NASA!" White House said in a post on X.
ALSO READ: Check Out The First Images Of Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore On Earth After 9 Months