Stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are finally safe and sound on Earth after more than nine months in space.

The pair was only due to be on the International Space Station for around a week, but after technical issues found themselves there for an extra 278 days.

Yesterday marked their grand return, which will no doubt have come as a huge relief to both, who had previously admitted to missing loved ones at home – understandable really, given that everyone was probably expecting them back for a roast the following Sunday, only to have to wait the best part of a year.

But while being back on home soil may feel like a huge comfort, it sounds like the trip back may not have been quite so pleasant.

The journey

The journey itself sees astronauts crammed into a tiny capsule – a stark contrast to their floating home on the International Space Station, where they’ve lived for the past nine months.

They then plummet through the atmosphere of Earth, with a heat shield working hard as fiery plasma forms around the craft.

An ESA simulation of the return journey (YouTube/European Space Agency)

And it turns out you can actually feel the moment the capsule hits Earth’s atmosphere – a moment that doesn’t sound too soothing.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli told The Atlantic: “Seen from the inside of the spacecraft, it felt like there was somebody out there outside the spacecraft with a sledgehammer was hammering here and there, up and down. And so every few milliseconds, the spacecraft was shaking. There’s a ‘BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!’ It felt really interesting, actually.”

In an interview with ITV, British reserve astronaut Meganne Christian also described the unique sensation of returning to gravity as feeling like ‘when a car turns a corner and you feel that extra weight on you’.

Another still from the ESA’s simulation (YouTube/European Space Agency)

The landing

Last night, people watched on as the SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down in waters near Tallahasse, Florida.

As Nespoli puts it, the ‘soft landing’ they’ll have experienced comes with a bit of a misleading title.

“The soft landing is not really soft,” he said.

(YouTube/European Space Agency)

“You prepare for it by putting your arms against your body, not touching any metallic parts, all your books against you.

“You’re not talking, not to put the tongue in the middle of your teeth. And you’re laying there, trying to be as inside your seat as well as you can. And you’re waiting for this ‘soft landing’ to happen. Which, for me, it felt like a head-on collision between a truck and a small car. Of course, I wasn’t in a small car.”

Nespoli added: “So when this happened, it was like, ‘BADDA-BOOM!’ Everything shook. I was kind of checking in there. And then: silence. Everything was stopped. So I looked a little bit around, I looked at my crew members, and I said, ‘Hey, guys – welcome back to Earth.’”

Butch Wilmore after landing safely back on Earth (Keegan Barber/NASA via Getty Images)

The aftermath

There are a number of physical changes that astronauts often have to manage, including ‘baby feet’, bone and muscle loss and even swollen eyeballs.

But Christian warned that it will have also been mentally difficult for Williams and Wilmore, who were away from their family for so long – the uncertainty of their return date possibly taking its toll.

British astronaut Tim Peake also explained to ITV that there will be a ‘mixture of emotions’ upon their return.

“They will be coming back and feeling that pressure of suddenly being immersed into a very busy environment but they will have a lot of people to support them,” he said.