Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala Assembly on Wednesday congratulated NASA astronaut Sunita Williams on her return to Earth after a nine-month long space exploration mission and said that her achievement shows that "there are no limits to dreams".

Speaker A N Shamseer said that Willams achievement was a "sparkling example" of courage and dedication by a person of Indian origin and therefore, it was a moment of pride for the country as well.

He said that the Indian-origin astronaut showed her inner strength to the world through her journey and her achievement should be a source of encouragement for women and youth across the world.

"It shows that there are no limits to dreams. We (assembly) extend our heartfelt congratulations to Sunita Williams and the others who helped her in her journey," Shamseer said.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, hitching a different ride home to close out a saga that began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago.

Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening, just hours after departing the International Space Station. Splashdown occurred off the coast of Tallahassee in the Florida Panhandle, bringing their unplanned odyssey to an end.

A former US Navy captain, Williams, 59, was born to a Gujarati father, Deepak Pandya, hailing from Jhulasan in Mehsana district, and a Slovenian mother, Ursuline Bonnie Pandya, on September 19, 1965 in Euclid, Ohio.