Mehsana (Gujarat) [India], March 18 (ANI) : As NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and her fellow crew members prepare to return to Earth after spending over nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), prayers for her safe journey resonate in Jhulasan, her paternal village in Gujarat's Mehsana district.

'(NASA astronaut) Sunita Williams has come here twice. We all want her to return safely to Earth (from the International Space Station). We are also planning to celebrate...everyone here is excited and praying that she lands safely,' said a resident.

Similarly, Dinesh Rawal, Sunita Williams's cousin brother in Gujarat, expressed his happiness and said that she is the pride of the nation.

'Everyone in the family, including her mother, brother and sister, is happy that she is coming back home. Our entire family is delighted and eagerly awaits her return... We have started offering prayers and visited many temples for her safety... It is a huge day for us... She is the pride of the nation... We are doing a 'Yagna' for her return and will distribute sweets upon her return,' Rawal told ANI.

NASA's Boeing Starliner astronauts Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore, along with two others, have undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) as they began a 17 hour journey back home.

Willams and Wilmore were launched to the ISS on June 5 on a Boeing Starliner spacecraft, then stayed aboard the ISS after it developed technical issues. In September 2024, NASA sent the Starliner craft back to Earth, uncrewed, to free up the docking port for other spacecraft.

Now, after nine months Williams and Wilmore are set to return to Earth on the capsule of the Elon-Musk owned Space X.

NASA posted the development on X, 'They're on their way! Crew 9 undocked from the Space Station at 1.05 am ET (0505 UTC). Reentry and splashdown coverage begin on X, YouTube, and NASA+ at 4.45 pm ET (2145 UTC) this evening.'

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, alongside Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, began their 17-hour journey back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft early this morning.

As NASA went live, Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were seen packing up and closing the hatches as Crew9 prepared to depart from the Space Station.

'It's been a privilege to call the Space Station home, to play my part in its 25-year legacy of doing research for humanity, and to work with colleagues, now friends, from around the globe. My spaceflight career, like most, is full of the unexpected,' said Nick Hague.

The crew is expected to touch down in the Gulf of America on Wednesday morning India time. (ANI)