WATCH: Four astronauts return to Earth after 8 months aboard International Space Station

Four astronauts have returned to Earth after an eight-month stay on the International Space Station. The crew, consisting of NASA's Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France's Sophie Adenot, and Russia's Andrey Fedyaev, departed the orbiting lab on Wednesday and splashed down on Thursday.

According to Euronews, Sophie Adenot's eight-month stay marks the longest by a European astronaut. The crew was brought back to Earth by SpaceX, with a splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of Los Angeles, as reported by the Guardian Science.

The astronauts were hurried to the International Space Station eight months ago to replace an ailing colleague and his crew, as per the Guardian Science. After their lengthy separation, the crew was eager to reunite with their families.

Brief written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour Science, CBS News, Le Monde English, Euronews, Guardian Science — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.