Astronauts buckle up for 'the trip downhill' after unscheduled nine months in space

Two Nasa astronauts "stranded" onboard the International Space Station since June 2024 were due to return to Earth last night, more than nine months after technical problems with Boeing's pioneering Starliner capsule dramatically extended their week-long mission.

- Richard Luscombe

A SpaceX Dragon capsule containing four astronauts, including Starliner's test pilots Sunita Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore, undocked from the orbiting outpost at 5.05am GMT yesterday. The craft was scheduled for splashdown somewhere off the Florida coast at 10pm GMT last night after a 17-hour descent, with mission managers determining the precise location after assessing weather conditions.

Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS on 6 June last year, intending to stay long enough to evaluate Starliner's docking and operational capabilities during its first crewed flight and return home no more than 10 days later.

But a series of technical issues and safety fears led Nasa and Boeing to send the capsule back to Earth empty in September, and extend the pair's stay by making them crew members onboard the space station in place of two other astronauts still on the ground.

"We'll miss you, but have a great journey home," Nasa's Anne McClain called out from the space station as the capsule pulled away, 260 miles, above the Pacific.