Write a comment
Four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday 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.
Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air since arriving 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.
The astronauts said it was incredible to be back. "You've got a roomful of happy people here," SpaceX Mission Control radioed.
SpaceX launched their replacements over a week ago.
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. Credit: NASA via AP 
In this image from video made available by NASA, a SpaceX capsule, slowed by parachutes, approaches the surface of 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. Credit: NASA via AP 
In this May 2023 photo provided by NASA, clockwise from bottom, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev pose for a portrait in their pressure suits aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts are back on Earth after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic early Monday, Sept. 4, off the Florida coast. Credit: NASA via AP 
In this photo provided by NASA, a SpaceX spacecraft is seen as it lands with NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev aboard in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, Sept. 4, 203, after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP 
In this photo provided by NASA, support teams work around a SpaceX capsule shortly after it splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, with NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi, NASA astronaut Warren (Woody) Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev aboard after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Credit: Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP
Another crew switch will occur later this month with the long-awaited homecoming of two Russians and one American who have been up there 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.
© 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.