Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.

Sultan al-Neyadi, the first Arab person to spend an extended time in orbit, was among the members of the Crew-6 mission run jointly by NASA and SpaceX.

He was joined by NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren "Woody" Hoburg and Russia's Andrei Fedyaev.

Before heading back to Earth, the crew - who had arrived at the station in March - said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air.

Their homecoming was delayed a day because of poor weather at the splashdown locations.

However, in the end they provided a spectacular middle-of-the-night show as their capsule streaked through the sky over Cape Canaveral before splashing down near Jacksonville.

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The astronauts said it was incredible to be back.

"You've got a roomful of happy people here," SpaceX Mission Control said.

SpaceX launched the astronauts' replacements more than a week ago.

Another crew switch will occur later this month with the long-awaited homecoming of two Russians and one American who have been up on the station for an entire year.

Their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule leaked all of its coolant and a new craft had to be launched.

Between crew swaps, the space station is home to seven astronauts.