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Four astronauts returned to Earth on Thursday after spending eight months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where they had arrived earlier than planned to replace a colleague who fell ill and his crewmates. SpaceX brought the US, French and Russian astronauts home with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Los Angeles. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France's Sophie Adenot and Russia's Andrey Fedyaev left the orbiting laboratory on Wednesday, looking forward to reuniting with their families after months apart. However, their return was delayed because their replacements arrived three weeks behind schedule due to capsule repairs. The astronauts were eager to feel fresh air, take showers and return to their favourite activities. Adenot, in particular, was looking forward to water sports after spending 237 days in orbit, setting an endurance record for the European Space Agency. “We are so excited to be back on Planet Earth after an incredible mission on the International Space Station,” Meir said in a radio message shortly after landing. While still in space, she had described the crew's feelings as a mixture of emotions, saying they would miss the “extraordinary views of our home planet.” All four astronauts emerged from their capsule within an hour of landing, waving and raising their fists in celebration aboard SpaceX's recovery ship. They were scheduled to travel by helicopter to shore before heading to Houston. Meir and her crewmates launched into space in February to replace four astronauts who returned home early after one of them, retired NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, became ill. It was NASA's first medical evacuation during 65 years of human spaceflight. Two months later, the crew watched proudly as the Artemis II astronauts travelled around the Moon. They also celebrated the United States' 250th anniversary in space, with Meir playing the piccolo alongside the Boston Pops for a Fourth of July concert. During the mission, Meir completed four spacewalks, while Adenot ventured outside the station three times to carry out maintenance and upgrade work on the 28-year-old facility. Despite their demanding schedules, the astronauts also made time for recreation. They held a dance party last month and regularly demonstrated cooking techniques while wearing aprons and chefs' hats. Meir shared a video tutorial for women with curly hair in space, drawing on her own experience. Hathaway, meanwhile, carefully maintained his thick moustache, an unusual sight among astronauts. The naval aviator-style moustache was grown before his launch to reflect his connection to the US Navy. He said maintaining it in weightlessness was no more difficult than doing so on Earth. Some ground controllers also grew moustaches in support. Asked in August whether he would shave it after returning home, Hathaway said the moustache had become part of his identity in space and he might keep it for a while. Seven astronauts remain aboard the ISS, representing the United States, Russia and Canada. According to NASA, the station has hosted 298 visitors from 26 countries since it first opened to crews in 2000. SpaceX is preparing for another supply mission to the station next week. The company, founded by Elon Musk, plans to deliver more than 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilogrammes) of cargo, including the final set of a series of solar panel additions, a toilet pump, a spacesuit for spacewalks, fresh fruit and other supplies.

Boeing’s crew taxi returned to Earth from the International Space Station on Wednesday, completing a repeat test flight before NASA astronauts climb aboard. It was a quick trip back: The Starliner capsule parachuted into the New Mexico desert just four hours after leaving the orbiting lab, with airbags attached to cushion the landing. Only a mannequin was buckled in. Aside from thruster failures and cooling system snags, Starliner appeared to clinch its high-stakes shakedown cruise, 2 1/2 years after its botched first try. Flight controllers in Houston applauded and cheered the bull’s-eye touchdown. “It’s great to have this incredible test flight behind us,” said Steve Stich, director of NASA’s commercial crew program. He described the demo as “extremely successful,” with all objectives met. Also read:US astronaut ends record-long spaceflight in Russian capsule Added Boeing’s Mark Nappi, a vice president: “On a scale of one to 10, I think I’d give it a 15.” Based on these early results, NASA astronauts will strap in next for a trip to the space station, perhaps by year’s end. The space agency has long wanted two competing U.S. companies ferrying astronauts, for added insurance as it drastically reduced its reliance on Russia for rides to and from the space station. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is already the established leader, launching astronauts since 2020 and even tourists. Its crew capsules splash down off the Florida coast, Boeing’s Starliner returns to the Army’s expansive and desolate White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Boeing scrapped its first attempt to reach the space station in 2019, after software errors left the capsule in the wrong orbit and nearly doomed it. The company fixed the flaws and tried again last summer, but corroded valves halted the countdown. Following more repairs, Starliner finally lifted off from Cape Canaveral last Thursday and docked to the space station Friday. Station astronauts tested Starliner’s communication and computer systems during its five days at the space station. They also unloaded hundreds of pounds (kilograms) of groceries and other supplies that flew up in the Boeing capsule, then filled it with empty air tanks and other discarded gear. A folded U.S. flag sent up by Boeing stayed behind, to be retrieved by the first Starliner crew. “We’re a little sad to see her go,” station astronaut Bob Hines radioed as the capsule flew away. Along for the ride was Starliner’s test dummy — Rosie the Rocketeer, a takeoff on World War II’s Rosie the Riveter. The repairs and do-over cost Boeing nearly $600 million.

Four astronauts in orbit since spring headed back to Earth on Monday, aiming for a late night splashdown off the Florida coast. The undocking of their SpaceX capsule from the International Space Station also paved the way for a launch of their four replacements as early as Wednesday night. Read:China's 1st woman to spacewalk works 6 hours outside station The newcomers were scheduled to launch first, but NASA switched the order because of bad weather and an astronaut's undisclosed medical condition. The welcoming duties will now fall to the lone American and two Russians left behind at the space station. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan's Akihiko Hoshide and France's Thomas Pesquet should have been back Monday morning, but high wind in the recovery zone delayed their homecoming. Their splashdown was planned for the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola. “One more night with this magical view. Who could complain? I’ll miss our spaceship!” Pesquet tweeted alongside a brief video showing the space station illuminated against the blackness of space and the twinkling city lights on the nighttime side of Earth. From the space station, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei -- midway through a one-year flight -- bid farewell to each of his departing friends, telling McArthur "I’ll miss hearing your laughter in adjacent modules.” Before leaving the neighborhood, the four took a spin around the space station to take pictures. This was the first time SpaceX attempted a flyaround like this; NASA's shuttles used to do it all the time before their retirement a decade ago. Read: Russian filmmakers land after shoot aboard space station It wasn't the most comfortable ride back. The toilet in their capsule was broken, and so the astronauts needed to rely on diapers for the eight-hour trip home. They shrugged it off late last week as just one more challenge in their mission. The first issue arose shortly after their April liftoff; Mission Control warned a piece of space junk was threatening to collide with their capsule. It turned out to be a false alarm. Then in July, thrusters on a newly arrived Russian lab inadvertently fired and sent the station into a spin. The four astronauts took shelter in their docked SpaceX capsule, ready to make a hasty departure if necessary. Among the upbeat milestones: four spacewalks to enhance the station's solar power, a movie-making visit by a Russian film crew and the first-ever space harvest of chile peppers. Their 200-day mission began last April.

Washington, Oct. 12 (Xinhua/UNB) -- Two U.S. astronauts wrapped up a spacewalk out of the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, the second in a series of five spacewalks in October to replace batteries on the far end of the station's port truss.