Four astronauts from four countries caught a lift back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to end a half-year mission at the International Space Station.

Their capsule streaked across the U.S. in the predawn darkness and splashed into the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida Panhandle.

NASA�s Jasmin Moghbeli, a Marine helicopter pilot, led the returning crew of Denmark�s Andreas Mogensen, Japan�s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia�s Konstantin Borisov.

They moved into the space station last August. Their replacements arrived last week in their own SpaceX capsule.

�We left you some peanut butter and tortillas,� Moghbeli radioed after departing the orbiting complex on Monday. Replied NASA�s Loral O�Hara: �I miss you guys already and thanks for that very generous gift.�

O�Hara has another few weeks at the space station before leaving aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.

Before leaving the space station, Mogensen said via X, formerly known as Twitter, that he couldn�t wait to hear �birds singing in the trees” and also craved crunchy food.

NASA prefers multiple travel options in case of rocket trouble. Boeing should start providing astronaut taxi service with a two-pilot test flight in early May.

(AP)