India, March 19 -- NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has returned to Earth after what was meant to be an eight-day mission but turned into a grueling 286-day challenge in space. Technical issues aboard the Boeing spacecraft forced Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore to extend their stay on the International Space Station, making it one of the longest missions in recent history.

Williams and Wilmore finally departed aboard a SpaceX capsule, splashing down off Florida's coast on Wednesday morning. This marked Williams' third mission, bringing her cumulative time in space to an impressive 608 days. During this mission, she also set a new record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman, clocking 62 hours and nine minutes and surp...