Ahmedabad (Gujarat): People in Jhulasan, the hometown of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams in Gujarat, India, celebrated her safe return to Earth on March 19 by performing aarti and offering prayers after she spent almost nine months in space. The celebrations followed the successful splashdown of the Dragon spacecraft, which brought Williams back to Earth along with Crew-9 members Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Before her return, Sunita Williams’ cousin, Dinesh Rawal, organized a ‘Yagna’ in Ahmedabad on March 18, praying for her safe return. SpaceX confirmed the splashdown, and astronaut Nick Hague shared that the crew was “grinning ear to ear” after safely returning to Earth.
Following the splashdown, NASA commentator Sandra Jones described the breathtaking sight of the landing, noting the calm, glass-like ocean. SpaceX’s rescue ships are now in the process of retrieving the spacecraft, using a rig to lift the capsule and place it in the “Dragon’s nest.”
Before landing, parachutes deployed to slow Crew Dragon’s descent to less than 20 miles per hour. Once on Earth, the astronauts will undergo initial medical checks aboard the rescue ship, and they will continue to be monitored over the coming days and weeks. Later, the Crew-9 team will be taken to NASA’s Houston facilities for further medical evaluations.
Williams and Wilmore’s extended stay in space had been the subject of ongoing speculation, with some suggesting they were “abandoned” or “stranded.” However, the astronauts have repeatedly denied these claims, emphasizing that they were well-prepared and committed to their mission.