Sunita Williams' Homecoming: Smiles and Marine Show as Spacecraft Return

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] March 19: Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, after a novel stay at the International Space Station (ISS) for more than nine months, are back to Earth and touched down off the coast of the American state of Florida right away Wednesday.

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A SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship carrying the two astronauts, along with American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, streaked through the environment before firing parachutes for a gentle splashdown off the Florida coast at 3:27 am IST.

In June of last year, the two astronauts took that first manned flight to the orbital lab. The trip was supposed to last a few days round trip. The spaceship, yet, developed engine problems and was deemed unfit to fly back and went back empty.

No Limits To Dreams: Kerala Legislature On Sunita William's Accomplishment

The Kerala Assembly congratulated NASA engineer Sunita Williams on her return to Earth after a nine-month long space flight mission and said that her achievement shows that "there are no limits to set goals".

Speaker A N Shamseer stated that Willams achievement is a "sparkling example" of courage and dedication by a person of Indian origin and thus, it is a moment of pride for the country as well.

He said that the Indian-origin astronaut showed her own inner power to the world through her journey and her success should be a source of encouragement for women and youth across the world. "It shows that there are no limits to dreams. We (assembly) give our heartfelt congratulations to Sunita Williams and the others who helped her in her journey," Shamseer said.

The family of Gujarat village of Sunita Williams viewed from space

People from the town where NASA traveler Sunita Williams comes from in Gujarat's Mehsana district celebrated this morning when the SpaceX capsule she was in touched down off the coast of Florida.

As soon as she reached there, people from the area celebrated by dancing, letting off sparklers, and chanting "Har Har Mahadev."

There will be a procession from the village school to the temple where the "Akhand Jyot" is kept, and kids will be a part of the fun. The 'Akhand Jyot' will be covered when the parade goes to the temple.

"We have organised a march with Sunita Williams' photograph and will perform a dhun (prayer chanting) at the temple," Williams' niece said