NASA’s Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) all landed safely in the Atlantic ocean at 7.57am BST. As SpaceX’s Crew Dragon touched down, a round of applause broke out in NASA’s ground control.

As the Crew Dragon, named Resilience, approached the ocean, all the parachutes opened as planned, slowing the craft down to below 16 kilometres per hour.

Ground control said they “continue to hear good news after good news” as the mission went as smoothly as possible.

They added: “It really could have not been a more flawless journey home for Resilience.”

The astronauts were then forced to remain the capsule for around 30 minutes as rescue ships inspected the Crew Dragon.

As soon as the astronauts were out, they were whisked away to have medical check-ups – which is standard procedure for any returning space travellers.

However, ground control hear the “amazing news” from inside the cabin that all participants were “feeling well” even before they had left Resilience.

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