NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are set to return to Earth after a nine-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), far longer than their originally planned one-week mission.

Axar.az reports that their extended stay was due to a malfunction in the Boeing Starliner capsule that transported them to space last June.Instead of returning on the Starliner, they will now descend aboard a SpaceX capsule scheduled for launch next week.

During a press conference from the ISS, the astronauts expressed both excitement and nostalgia about their return.

While recent political tensions arose following remarks by President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who criticized the previous Biden administration for allegedly abandoning the astronauts, Wilmore and Williams emphasized that politics had no role in their mission.

"Politics is not playing into this at all," Wilmore stated, reaffirming that astronauts are trained for unexpected situations. Williams reflected on her experiences, saying she hopes to retain the sense of inspiration and perspective gained from living in space.

Their return will coincide with the arrival of a new ISS crew on the same SpaceX capsule. The timing of their homecoming has been expedited due to SpaceX swapping out capsules to ensure a smooth transition.