Four astronauts from four countries have returned to Earth in a SpaceX capsule to end a half-year mission aboard the International Space Station.
Their capsule crossed the US in the pre-dawn darkness local time and fell into the Gulf of Mexico, CBS News reported.
NASA's Jasmine Mogbeli, a helicopter pilot, led the return crew of Dane Andreas Mogensen, Japan's Satoshi Furukawa and Russia's Konstantin Borisov.
They went to the space station last August. Their replacements arrived last week in their own SpaceX capsule.
"We left you some peanut butter and tortillas," Mogbeli said over the radio after leaving the orbital complex on March 11. Loral O'Hara of NASA replied: "I miss you already and thank you for this very generous gift."
O'Hara has a few more weeks on the space station before departing aboard the Russian Soyuz capsule.
Before leaving the space station, Mogensen stressed that he couldn't wait to hear "the music of the birds in the trees." He also craves crunchy food. /BGNES