Dolphins greet returning NASA astronauts after splashdown off the Florida coast, making headlines for this unexpected cosmic welcome. The NASA astronauts' dolphin encounter blurred the line between sci-fi and nature documentary, as Earth's friendliest mammals upstaged the recovery team.

As the NASA livestream cut to the splashdown, viewers caught the commentator’s delighted gasp as a “cute little pod of dolphins” grew around the Crew 9 capsule. For viral animal video fans, it was the ultimate crossover: space heroes embraced by wild, curious bottlenose dolphins.