NASA Astronauts Returning to Earth After Being Stranded In Space

The two American astronauts who’ve been stranded since last spring on the International Space Station are finally coming back to Earth.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams left the ISS on Tuesday and are now traveling in a SpaceX spacecraft alongside two other astronauts. NASA says the four-person crew is scheduled to touch down on Earth later this evening, with the trip expected to take around 19 hours.

A relief crew arrived at the ISS on Sunday, allowing Butch and Suni to head home. NASA moved up their return by a day to avoid some unfavorable weather later in the week.

You’ll recall, Wilmore and Williams were only supposed to be in space for a little over a week, but have been stuck since June 6 due to their Boeing Starliner’s thruster troubles and helium leaks.

As a result, NASA was forced to return the aircraft back to Earth while it was completely empty.

After a series of delays, the astronaut duo has been stranded in space for a whopping 285 days.