NASA retiree turned private astronaut Peggy Whitson splashed down safely in the Pacific early on Tuesday after her fifth trip to the International Space Station, joined by crewmates from India, Poland and Hungary returning from their countries' first ISS mission.

Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS), is currently en route back to Earth.

A private spaceflight featuring the first astronauts in more than 40 years from India, Poland and Hungary came to a close Tuesday with a Pacific splashdown. Their SpaceX capsule undocked from the I nternational Space Station on Monday and parachuted into the ocean off the Southern California coast,