Nasa astronauts splash-land on Earth in SpaceX capsule after ISS mission
Apollo-8, the first manned mission to the moon, returned to Earth on December 27, 1968, and was the last Nasa crew to land at night
Four astronauts have safely returned back to earth after their departure from the International Space Station in what was the first night-time landing for Nasa in the last 53 years.
Three Nasa astronauts and a member of Japan's space agency, Jaxa, spent nearly six months in space, reports BBC.
At 02:56 EDT, they returned in SpaceX's Crew Dragon Resilience and splash-landed off the coast of Panama City, Florida (07:56 BST).
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They were expected to leave the ISS earlier, but bad weather in Florida caused them to miss their flight.
Nasa said in a statement that "teams on the Go Navigator recovery ship, including two fast vessels, are now in the process of securing Crew Dragon and ensuring the spacecraft is secure for the recovery effort."
"As the fast boat crews finish their job, the recovery ship will step into place to hoist Crew Dragon onto the main deck of the Go Navigator, leaving the astronauts outside."
The crew would then undergo medical examinations before flying from Pensacola, Florida to Houston, Texas, according to the statement.
Apollo-8, the first manned mission to the moon, returned to Earth on December 27, 1968, and was the last Nasa crew to land at night.
This latest mission was a collaboration between Nasa and SpaceX, as part of the former's Commercial Crew programme.
SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has become Nasa's favoured commercial space flight partner.
Nasa livestreamed the moment the capsule left the ISS, moved off into the dark and began its journey back to Earth.
There are still seven astronauts on the ISS, including a new crew of four people who arrived on a different SpaceX craft last week.
As the capsule moved off, astronaut Michael Hopkins said: "Thanks for your hospitality. We'll see you back on Earth."
The astronauts - Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi - travelled into space last November on the first fully operational mission to the ISS by a vehicle made by SpaceX.
Before that, in May 2020, two US astronauts made a test mission to the ISS and stayed until July.
That was the first launch to the ISS from US soil since the end of the Space Shuttle programme in 2011 - before this, American astronauts had travelled to the ISS on Russian spacecraft. It was also the first crewed mission run by a private company and not Nasa.
