After an unexpected nine-month stay in space, a pair of NASA astronauts finally returned to Earth, concluding a mission that gained global attention.

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) on Tuesday.

NASA confirmed the successful splashdown, marking the end of a mission that lasted far beyond its original timeline.

Their return took approximately 17 hours before reaching the waters off Florida's coast.

"On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home," radioed SpaceX Mission Control in California.

"What a ride," replied Hague, the capsule's commander.

Journey for the ages

The two were expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing's new Starliner crew capsule on June 5.

So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. Then SpaceX capsule issues added another month's delay.

The two astronauts' plight captured the world's attention, giving new meaning to the phrase "stuck at work" and turning "Butch and Suni" into household names. While other astronauts had logged longer spaceflights over the decades, none had to deal with so much uncertainty or see the length of their mission expand by so much.

Wilmore and Williams quickly transitioned from guests to full-fledged station crew members, conducting experiments, fixing equipment and even spacewalking together. With 62 hours over nine spacewalks, Williams set a record: the most time spent spacewalking over a career among female astronauts.

Both had lived on the orbiting lab before and knew the ropes, and brushed up on their station training before rocketing away. Williams became the station's commander three months into their stay and held the post until earlier this month.

Wilmore, 62, missed most of his younger daughter's senior year of high school; his older daughter is in college. Williams, 59, had to settle for internet calls from space to her mother and relatives.

"We have not been worried about her because she has been in good spirits," said Falguni Pandya, who is married to Williams' cousin.

"She's been healthy, and we've been in touch with her right until they left. She was definitely ready to come home."