Hero’s welcome: Jhulasan village in Gujarat celebrates Sunita Williams’ safe return to earth

The extended nine-month space mission of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore ended with their return to Earth in the early hours of Wednesday morning after achieving worldwide interest along with political significance. All residents of Jhulasan in Gujarat conducted an aarti along with prayers to welcome Sunita Williams home safely after her space mission return.

NASA successfully retrieved Dragon spacecraft

The event started after NASA successfully retrieved Dragon spacecraft so Sunita Williams along with Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Aleksandr Gorbunov could return to Earth.News agency visuals captured residents in Jhulasan of Mehsana district celebrating through firework displays after the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft accomplished its touchdown. The populace of Ahmedabad gathered at a 'Yagna' event which Sunita Williams' cousin arranged on Tuesday to perform prayers for her homecoming. After the successful splashdown SpaceX confirmed the procedure then NASA astronaut Nick Hague reported the crew members were smiling broadly from their safe return.

Teams burst out in celebration

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship entered the atmosphere before deploying parachutes for its safe splashdown by the Florida coast at 5:57 pm (3.27 am IST). The ground teams burst out in celebration upon seeing Freedom spacecraft float on calm ocean waters despite its appearance of being scorched by 3,500 degree Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius) heat during re-entry through the atmosphere. Pilot Hague delivered his famous words during the space mission which left others laughing for a long time afterward. The capsule received its initial safety checks from fast boats when a pod of amusing dolphins joined the party for a friendly swim near the vessel.

Extra medical examinations

After returning from space the NASA Johnson Space Center teams will assist the astronauts through Earth's gravity re-acclimation process. Medical examination by the crew will begin onboard the rescue ship before extended supervision within upcoming days and weeks. Crew-9 members will be moved to NASA's Houston facilities today for extra medical examinations following their arrival.