Goa, March 19 -- Residents of Jhulasan, the hometown of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, joyfully marked her safe return to Earth on Wednesday with aarti and prayers after her nearly nine-month journey in space. The festivities kicked off following the successful splashdown of the Dragon spacecraft, which brought Williams back along with Crew-9 members Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Prior to this, Williams' cousin, Dinesh Rawal, held a 'Yagna' in Ahmedabad on Tuesday to pray for her safe homecoming. SpaceX confirmed the splashdown, and Nick Hague expressed that the crew was "grinning ear to ear" upon their return. After landing, Hague sent his first message to mission control, where, despite some audi...