According to NASA, the pair of U.S. astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station for more than nine months will return to Earth on Tuesday evening.

Homeward Bound

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 members pose together for a portrait inside the vestibule between the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft; Photo: NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 members pose together for a portrait inside the vestibule between the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft; Photo: NASA

A SpaceX Crew Dragon craft arrived at the ISS early on Sunday to transport Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams. The replacement crew of astronauts — Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers of NASA, Takuya Onishi of the Japanese space agency, and Kirill Peskov of the Russian space agency — launched to the ISS on Friday.

The two astronauts have been stranded aboard the station since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered propulsion issues while being tested on its maiden voyage. The ship was deemed unfit to return to Earth, and the astronauts have since remained stranded in space after what was meant to be a days-long roundtrip.

The prolonged stay is also substantially longer than the standard ISS rotation of approximately six months. Though a return date was originally scheduled to launch in February, it was delayed until this month.

A statement released by NASA on Sunday reported that, due to a forecast of favorable conditions, the astronauts’ anticipated landing in Florida would move forward to approximately 5:57 pm Tuesday (21:57 GMT). The original anticipated return date was no sooner than Wednesday.

“The updated return target continues to allow the space station crew members time to complete handover duties while providing operational flexibility ahead of less favorable weather conditions expected for later in the week,” the space agency said.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also return aboard the Dragon capsule. The journey will be broadcast live beginning on Monday evening when the team begins hatch closure preparations.

Despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, Williams and Wilmore have embraced their extended time in space, broadcasting regularly from the station and speaking fondly about their layover.

“It makes you really want to enjoy every bit of your time that you have up here,” Ms. Williams told “The Daily” last week.