Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore feel Earth's gravity after 286 days; WATCH NASA astronauts wave & smile

NASA astronaut and Crew-9 commander Nick Hague was the first to emerge from the Dragon capsule with the help of ground crew, almost an hour after the Dragon capsule splashed down off the Florida coast. Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov slid down a ramp coming out of the capsule next, followed by Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.

Following recovery and cooldown procedures, the astronauts began emerging from the capsule, bogged down by gravity after a nine-month stay in space.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship carrying Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams -- alongside fellow American Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov -- streaked through the atmosphere before deploying parachutes for a gentle splashdown off the Florida coast at 5:57 pm (2157 GMT).

Ground teams erupted in cheers as the gumdrop-shaped spacecraft named Freedom, charred from withstanding scorching temperatures of 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius) during re-entry, bobbed steadily on the waves beneath a clear, sunny sky.

A spectacular sight greeted SpaceX Dragon Freedom with astronauts onboard as their capsule made a successful splashdown off the coast of Florida. A pod of dolphins were seen swimming around the spacecraft.

Fast boats raced to the capsule for initial safety checks, followed by a recovery vessel that retrieved the crew before they were flown to Houston to begin a 45-day rehabilitation program.

Watch 1st visuals as NASA astronauts exit capsule

The astronauts disembarked the capsule on stretchers, as is customary, CNN reported. This precaution is taken by SpaceX for all astronauts returning from long-duration space missions. They were seen smiling, waving while exiting the capsule and being carried on stretchers.

Earlier, a worker rinsed the Crew Dragon spacecraft with fresh water to remove as much salt water as possible.

Also read: Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore safely return home after 9 months; WATCH NASA astronauts' splashdown moment

Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore's 9 months journey in space

Wilmore and Williams, both ex-Navy pilots and veterans of two prior space missions, flew to the orbital lab in June last year, on what was supposed to be a days-long roundtrip to test out Boeing's Starliner on its first crewed flight.

But the spaceship developed propulsion problems and was deemed unfit to fly them back, instead returning empty.

They were subsequently reassigned to NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which arrived at the ISS last September with a reduced crew of two -- rather than the usual four -- to accommodate the pair, who had become widely referred to as the "stranded" astronauts.

Early Sunday, a relief team called Crew-10 docked with the station, paving the way for the Crew-9 team to depart.

Wilmore and Williams' 286-day stay exceeds the usual six-month ISS rotation but ranks only sixth among US records for single-mission duration.

Frank Rubio holds the top spot at 371 days in 2023, while the world record remains with Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who spent 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir station.

Also read: Dolphins welcome Sunita Williams, other NASA astronauts back home after 9 months; WATCH adorable moment