Four astronauts safely returned to Earth on Saturday after a five-month mission at the International Space Station (ISS), where they replaced the astronauts stranded by Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft.

Their SpaceX capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California a day after departing the orbiting laboratory.

The returning crew included NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russia’s Kirill Peskov. They launched in March as replacements for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were delayed at the ISS due to Starliner’s technical issues.

Starliner’s malfunction forced Wilmore and Williams to remain in space for over nine months instead of the planned week. NASA ordered Boeing’s capsule to return empty and reassigned the two astronauts to SpaceX, with Wilmore retiring shortly after.

SpaceX swiftly delivers four astronauts to International Space Station within 15 hours of launch

Before leaving the ISS, McClain reflected on the challenges faced on Earth, saying, “We want this mission to be a reminder of what people can do when we work together, when we explore together.”

Back on Earth in Houston, McClain looked forward to “doing nothing for a couple of days,” while her crewmates eagerly anticipated hot showers and juicy burgers.

This marked SpaceX’s third Pacific splashdown with crew on board, and the first NASA crew to return to the Pacific in 50 years. Earlier this year, SpaceX shifted its capsule landings from Florida to California’s coast to minimize risks from falling debris.

The last NASA astronauts to return via Pacific splashdown were during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission, a historic joint flight between the US and the Soviet Union.

Source: Agency