Two astronauts stuck in space for more than nine months are about to leave the International Space Station – and head back to Earth.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off to the ISS on 5 June, and were meant to be up there for just eight days.
They were testing out Boeing’s long-awaited Starliner, a ship designed to rival SpaceX’s Crew Dragon that is currently used to ferry astronauts into space.
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NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Pic: NASA Johnson
But by the time they docked at the ISS, the Starliner had suffered major problems – with five helium leaks, five dead manoeuvring thrusters and a propellant valve that failed to close completely.
It returned to Earth without them, after it was decided the astronauts would be safer waiting in orbit.
Since then, the two US Navy veterans have completed spacewalks, experiments and even helped sort out the plumbing onboard.
The astronauts have repeatedly said they have enjoyed the mission, with Ms Williams describing the space station as her “happy place”.
“Every day is interesting because we’re up in space and it’s a lot of fun,” she said earlier this month, although she added the waiting was likely hard for family members on the ground.
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The SpaceX vehicle that will take them home arrived at the space station in September, carrying NASA’s Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, along with two empty seats.
Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams then stuck around so that the other two astronauts could complete their mission, although their return was once more delayed because of problems with the SpaceX rocket that was going to bring them back.
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The crew replacing them all arrived at the ISS on Sunday, with hugs shared all around.
A ship’s bell, long used to welcome new crewmates to the space station, was rung as NASA’s Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos’s Kirill Peskov came aboard.
The long-awaited crew are expected to splashdown off the coast of Florida on Tuesday evening.
The group were planning to come back on Wednesday but “favourable” weather conditions meant their return could be brought forward by one day.
