FOUR astronauts have returned to Earth after their five-month-long space mission.
The members of the Crew-5 team aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico just after 9pm on Saturday evening.
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NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada were two of the four crew members who returned, along with Koichi Wakata of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and cosmonaut Anna Kikina of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos.
The astronauts disembarked from the International Space Station at 2.20am, according to CNN.
Their journey ended upon landing in the waters off the coast of Tampa, Florida.
Rescue teams were at the ready, prepared to remove the capsule from the water.
SpaceX tweeted just after 9pm welcoming the astronauts back to Earth.
The crew members launched into space last October.
Part of their mission included maintenance and upkeep on the ISS, as well as executing research experiments.
However, the Crew-5 members have been preparing for their departure for nearly a week.
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The Crew-6 team members arrived at the ISS on March 3.
With this mission, Mann became the first Native American woman to reach the ISS.
“I am very proud to represent Native Americans and my heritage,” Mann said before the October launch.
“I think it’s important to celebrate our diversity and also realize how important it is when we collaborate and unite, the incredible accomplishments that we can have.”
The mission was the first trip to space for Mann, Cassada, and Kikina.
