Astronauts return to Earth, wrapping up six-month space station mission

In this image from video made available by NASA, a SpaceX capsule, slowed by parachutes, splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, as it returns to Earth with NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)

Four astronauts have returned to Earth after a six-month stay at the International Space Station.

Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast.

Returning were Nasa astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev and the United Arab Emirates’ Sultan al-Neyadi, the first person from the Arab world to spend an extended time in orbit.

Welcome back, #Crew6! 🪂

Four members aboard the @SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida at 12:17am ET on Monday, Sept. 4, completing their 186-day mission aboard the space station. https://t.co/7OTJApiTBU pic.twitter.com/GsIgBfLs7m

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 4, 2023

Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air, having arrived in March.

Their homecoming was delayed a day because of poor weather at the splashdown locations, but in the end, provided a spectacular middle-of-the-night show as the capsule streaked through the sky over Cape Canaveral toward a splashdown near Jacksonville.

Warren ‘Woody’ Hoburg is helped out of a SpaceX capsule on board a recovery ship (Nasa via AP)

The astronauts said it was incredible to be back.

“You’ve got a roomful of happy people here,” SpaceX Mission Control said.

SpaceX launched the astronauts’ replacements more than a week ago.

Dragon splashes down off the coast of Florida with the Crew-6 astronauts, completing Dragon’s sixth long-duration mission to the @space_station pic.twitter.com/v2FWsf8Nli

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2023

Another crew switch will occur later this month with the long-awaited homecoming of two Russians and one American who have been up on the station for an entire year.

Their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule leaked all of its coolant and a new craft had to be launched.

Between crew swaps, the space station is home to seven astronauts.