Stranded NASA astronauts return to Earth from space

LOS ANGELES, March 18 (Xinhua) -- NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who had been stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) since last June, returned to Earth Tuesday afternoon.

The duo astronauts returned home with their fellow Crew-9 astronauts, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

The spacecraft splashed down off Florida's coast at 5:57 p.m. Tuesday Eastern Time (2157 GMT), according to NASA live broadcast.

The crew undocked with the ISS early on Tuesday to start an about 17-hour journey home. The spacecraft completed multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, and re-entered Earth's atmosphere before a parachute-supported splashdown off Florida's coast.

Next, teams will lift the spacecraft onto the recovery ship and open the hatch, according to NASA. After the hatch is open, the four astronauts will egress the capsule one by one with the help of medical personnel. Medical teams will evaluate the crew's health, which is routine after astronauts return from space, according to NASA.

Williams and Wilmore had been stuck in space since last June due to technical problems of Boeing's Starliner which took them to the ISS, including helium leaks and propulsion issues. The duo astronauts were initially scheduled for an eight-day mission in space, but were stranded at the ISS for over nine months. ■