Gujarat cheers! Sunita Williams' home village celebrates her safe return with aarti & prayers

People in Gujarat's Jhulasan, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams' native village, celebrated her safe return to Earth on Wednesday with aarti and prayers. Williams had spent more than nine months in space.

The celebrations began after the successful splashdown of the Dragon spacecraft, which brought Williams back along with Crew-9 members Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Earlier, Williams' cousin, Dinesh Rawal, held a 'Yagna' in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, praying for her safe return.


SpaceX confirmed the splashdown, while NASA astronaut Nick Hague said the crew was "grinning ear to ear" after landing safely.

Following the landing, NASA astronaut Nick Hague delivered his first message to mission control. While the audio was somewhat unclear, Hague could be heard saying that the crew was "grinning ear to ear," CNN reported.

While the audio was somewhat unclear, Hague could be heard saying that the crew was "grinning ear to ear," CNN reported. "Splashdown of Dragon confirmed - welcome back to Earth, Nick, Suni, Butch, and Aleks!" SpaceX announced in a post on X.

NASA commentator Sandra Jones described the landing scene, stating, "There's just breathtaking views of a calm, glass-like ocean."

Rescue ships operated by SpaceX are now expected to retrieve the spacecraft. A rig onboard one of the vessels will soon lift the capsule out of the water and place it in the "Dragon's nest."

Moments before touchdown, a set of parachutes deployed to slow Crew Dragon's descent, bringing it to speeds of less than 20 miles per hour, CNN reported.

Following the splashdown, teams at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will focus on helping the astronauts re-acclimate to Earth's gravity.

The crew will undergo initial medical checks aboard the rescue ship, with continuous monitoring in the coming days and weeks. Later today, the Crew-9 team will be transported to NASA's facilities in Houston, where they will receive additional medical evaluations.

The crew's highly anticipated return came after the crew climbed aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and departed the International Space Station at 1:05 am ET.

With ANI inputs