Astronauts stranded in space for nine months finally set to return home

Two astronauts stranded in orbit for nine months are set to finally return home following last nights arrival of an Elon Musk Crew Dragon capsule at the International Space Station.

Butch Wilmore, 62, and Suni Williams, 59, were due to spend just eight days in space piloting Boeings Starliner on a test mission to the ISS. 

However, it developed technical problems while docking and efforts to schedule a return trip for the NASA veterans were repeatedly postponed.

Their extended shift turned into a political football, with Donald Trump claiming they had been abandoned by his predecessor Joe Biden. The US Presidents allegation was fuelled by SpaceX boss Mr Musk, who spoke of mounting a rescue mission.

NASA dismissed the criticism, insisting it had to maintain crew levels on the space station and needed time both to return the malfunctioning Starliner to Earth unmanned and find a berth for Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams through normal astronaut rotation.

Earlier this month, Mr Wilmore also rejected any suggestion of political spin, insisting: We came prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short.

He added: Thats what your nations human spaceflight programme is all about... planning for unknown, unexpected contingencies. And we did that.

The astronauts are expected to head back in the SpaceX Crew Dragon on Wednesday, along with NASAs Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Butch Wilmore (left), 62, and Suni Williams (right), 59, were due to spend just eight days in space piloting Boeings Starliner on a test mission to the ISS

The astronauts are expected to head back in the SpaceX Crew Dragon (pictured, launching yesterday) on Wednesday 

The astronauts will return along with NASAs Nick Hague (centre back) and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov (centre front)

Until then, the ISS will be relatively crowded with 11 crew members on board, including last nights four new arrivals.

While unplanned, Mr Wilmore and Ms Williamss nine-month stay is far from the longest experienced by an ISS astronaut.

That record is held by NASAs Frank Rubio, a former Blackhawk combat helicopter pilot, who was there for 371 days.

Tension between SpaceX and NASA has recently centred on successful demands by Mr Trump and Mr Musk to bring the current crew rotation forward from March 26, swapping the planned capsule for one that would be ready sooner. This is said to have affected an established safety and preparation protocol.

NASAs space operations chief Ken Bowersox told reporters that it was hard for his team to keep up with SpaceX, adding: Were not quite as agile as they are. But were working well together.