4 space station astronauts returned to Earth late Saturday after a fast SpaceX flight home.
Their capsule splashed down within the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast near Tampa.
The U.S.-Russian-Japanese crew spent five months on the International Space Station, arriving last October.
Besides dodging space junk, the astronauts needed to cope with a pair of leaking Russian capsules docked to the orbiting outpost and the urgent delivery of a alternative craft for the station’s other crew members.
Led by NASA’s Nicole Mann, the primary Native American woman to fly in space, the astronauts checked out of the station early Saturday morning. Lower than 19 hours later, their Dragon capsule was bobbing in the ocean as they awaited pickup.
Earlier within the week, high wind and waves within the splashdown zones kept them on the station just a few extra days. Their replacements arrived greater than per week ago.
“That was one heck of a ride,” Mann radioed moments after splashdown. “We’re joyful to be home.”
Mann, a member of Northern California’s Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, said she couldn’t wait to feel the wind on her face, smell fresh grass and luxuriate in some delicious Earth food.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata craved sushi, while Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina yearned to drink hot tea “from real cup, not from plastic bag.”
NASA astronaut Josh Cassada’s to-do list included getting a rescue dog for his family. “Please don’t tell our two cats,” he joked before departing the space station.
Remaining behind on the space station are three Americans, three Russians and one from the United Arab Emirates.
Wakata, Japan’s spaceflight champion, now has logged greater than 500 days in space over five missions dating back to NASA’s shuttle era.
