--- title: Stranded Astronauts to Come Home on SpaceX Capsule description: Two astronauts relinquished their seats on a four-person spacecraft so that their colleagues could return to Earth from the ISS, where they’ve been stuck since June. canonical: https://time.com/7026608/stranded-astronauts-spacex-rescue-iss/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-09-30T04:05:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:47:14.041Z article:section: Science og:title: Stranded Astronauts to Come Home on SpaceX Capsule og:description: Two astronauts relinquished their seats on a four-person spacecraft so that their colleagues could return to Earth from the ISS, where they’ve been stuck since June. og:url: https://time.com/7026608/stranded-astronauts-spacex-rescue-iss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc22ee718b947044/698a5b9d9862f5036d896370/spacex-iss-astronauts-stuck-boeing-rescue.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: SpaceX Rescue Astronauts ISS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stranded Astronauts to Come Home on SpaceX Capsule twitter:description: Two astronauts relinquished their seats on a four-person spacecraft so that their colleagues could return to Earth from the ISS, where they’ve been stuck since June. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcc22ee718b947044/698a5b9d9862f5036d896370/spacex-iss-astronauts-stuck-boeing-rescue.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stranded Astronauts Set to Come Home After SpaceX Capsule With Extra Seats Reaches ISS > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=8f460a0b-89cd-4501-8cdb-e5af9085dd66&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: After 9 Months Stuck in Space, NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Return to Earth [Watch (HLS stream): After 9 Months Stuck in Space, NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Return to Earth](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XaeQXuWf.m3u8) (1:40)  _Published 2025-03-19. When astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams embarked on Boeing’s Starliner capsule on June 5, 2024, they expected to be away from home for just over a week. Instead, they spent around 9 months in orbit on the International Space Station. But after over 286 days, their extended stay in space is finally coming to a close, as the two astronauts make their way back to Earth on a SpaceX capsule that’s set to splash down off the coast of Florida on Tuesday._ by [Loren Grush / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Loren Grush / Bloomberg Contributor Sep 30, 2024 4:05 AM UTC When astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams embarked on Boeing’s Starliner capsule on June 5, 2024, they expected to be away from home for just over a week. Instead, they spent around 9 months in orbit on the International Space Station. But after over 286 days, their extended stay in space is finally coming to a close, as the two astronauts make their way back to Earth on a SpaceX capsule that’s set to splash down off the coast of Florida on Tuesday. by [Loren Grush / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Loren Grush / Bloomberg Contributor Sep 30, 2024 4:05 AM UTC SpaceX launched a two-person crew to the International Space Station, the start of a mission to bring home two NASA astronauts [stuck in orbit](https://time.com/7011415/nasa-boeing-starliner-astronauts-press-conference/) after flying on Boeing Co.’s [Starliner](https://time.com/7019344/is-there-a-future-for-boeing-starliner/) spacecraft. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov took off inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just after 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Crew-9 capsule docked with the ISS on Sunday at roughly 5:30 p.m. Eastern time and Hague and Gorbunov entered the ISS about 90 minutes later. **Read More:** [_How Two Stranded Astronauts Are Camping Out in Space_](https://time.com/7010425/stranded-astronauts-iss-butch-wilmore-suni-williams/) The pair had two empty seats next to them that NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams will fill when the spacecraft returns next year. The Crew-9 flight was meant to have a four-person crew but NASA removed two crew members to make room for the Starliner duo after technical failures with Boeing’s spacecraft. Astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson relinquished their seats so their colleagues could return to Earth. “We’re going to find spots for them to fly,” Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, said of Cardman and Wilson during a Friday news conference. “We really appreciate how hard it is to give up a mission and wait a little bit longer.” Wilmore and Williams have been on the ISS since June 6, when they arrived on Starliner. During their docking, the spacecraft experienced a number of helium leaks and failures of its thrusters—tiny engines the vehicle uses to maneuver through space. After months of analysis and testing, NASA decided it was too risky to bring them home on the Boeing capsule. **Read More:** [_What to Know About the Leak at the International Space Station: ‘A Top Safety Risk’_](https://time.com/7026281/international-space-station-leak-nasa-what-to-know/) The agency and Boeing instead returned the spacecraft uncrewed on Sept. 6, with the spacecraft landing under parachutes in New Mexico. “When Starliner landed safely, it was wonderful that it made it back,” Wilmore said during a Sept. 13 news conference from the space station. SpaceX’s crewed flights for NASA last about six months, with this vehicle slated to return around February. Wilmore and Williams’ flight on Starliner was supposed to last roughly a week. “We always miss our families. I miss my two dogs; I miss my friends,” Williams said earlier this month. “There are so many people on Earth that are sending us messages, and it makes you feel just right at home with everybody.” ## Transcript And there you see it on your screen. Drogue deployment. Descent rate nominal. From our recovery vessel off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida. And splashdown. Crew nine back on Earth. This harnessing is what will be used to lift the Dragon capsule out of the water and onto the recovery vessel. Wow. We got a cute little pod of dolphins. It wasn't just 1 or 2. And there we do see crew nine. Some happy waves. Smiles all around back on Earth. And that is NASA astronaut Nick Hague, commander of crew nine. Now out of Crew Dragon. Freedom. An on time splashdown. It looks like we're getting our next crew member here. That is none other than Suni Williams. Big smile, big waves. She, like her other crew members, now will be assisted onto the mobility aid. 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