It's been nearly two weeks since NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore returned to Earth after what turned out to be a marathon mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). And now Ms Williams has shared a heartfelt video of her long-awaited reunion with her dogs at home.
While everyone was wishing for 'Suni' to return safely from space, her two labradors, Gunner and Gorby, were the most excited to see her after months away.
On X, Ms Williams wrote, "Best homecoming ever!" and posted the clip.
The video shows Ms Williams opening the door and being enthusiastically welcomed by Gorby and Gunner in her front yard. The two dogs were seen excitedly wagging their tails and bouncing around her. Ms Williams was equally ecstatic, stroking her pets and smiling.
"Who is here? Gunner, get over here. Here's my good boy," she said and embraced Gorby as Gunner eagerly rushed towards her with a stick in his mouth.
"What are you doing? Are you showing off, boys?" Ms Williams asked as Gunner fled again. "Gunner, are you giving me the cold shoulder?" she asked.
"And you too? You copycat?" Ms Williams quipped when the second dog also ran away. When she called Gunner again, "Come here," he did not appear to want to comply.
The video instantly went viral, with Space X CEO Elon Musk responding with a heart emoji.
Several X users expressed joy in the comments section.
One wrote, "What a lovely video ! Wishing you long life and good health."
A user added, "Technically space is dogs happy place. An infinite land full of tiny balls of light."
Another added, "This is the most heartwarming thing to watch out for. They are adorable."
Next, Sunita Williams plans to visit India and meet with the ISRO team.
During NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Post-Flight News Conference, Ms Williams said she found India "amazing" each time her spacecraft passed by the Himalayas during her extended stay in space.
"I hope and I think for sure I'm going to be going back to my father's home country and visiting with people and getting excited about the Indian astronaut who's going up on the Axiom mission coming up," she said.
Sunita Williams' mother, Ursuline Bonnie Pandya (nee Zalokar), is of Slovenian-American descent, while her father, Deepak Pandya, is from Gujarat.
