The NASA astronauts whose short mission to the International Space Station extended into a nearly year-long nightmare when their Boeing spacecraft malfunctioned are expected to finally return back to Earth as early as March 16, NASA officials have announced. 

Astronauts Sunita Williams, 59, and Barry “Butch” Willmore, 62, who have been living out of the International Space Station since June, will be brought home on a SpaceX spacecraft that is already docked at the ISS. They have been waiting for NASA to clear the launch of a separate SpaceX craft that will supply a crew of astronauts to take their place at the station. 

Now that NASA has given the mission a green light, the new group, Crew-10, is expected to arrive at the ISS on March 13. Following a three-day “handover period” between the two crews, the stranded astronauts will embark on their journey back to earth. Although the period is typically five days long, NASA decided to expedite the process to conserve food and ensure that weather doesn’t interfere with the astronaut’s return. 

A handful of days, however, is chump change to Ms. Williams and Mr. Willmore who have been stranded on the ISS for the past ten months after they embarked on a trip that was supposed to be just eight days. Their journey to the space station aboard the first manned voyage of the Boeing Starliner went awry when five of the spacecraft’s reaction control system thrusters malfunctioned. NASA officials determined it was too risky to send the astronauts home on the craft and ultimately ordered the ship to return to Earth without its crew. 

After months of testing, NASA, lacking confidence in Boeing’s spacecraft, ultimately tapped Mr. Musk’s SpaceX to charter a rescue mission. In September, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency’s Aleksandr Gorbunov arrived at the station on a SpaceX capsule, aptly named “Freedom,” that the two astronauts will board to travel home. Their original return date in February was delayed due to issues with the SpaceX rocket that was supposed to carry the new crew. 

During a press conference last week, Mr. Wilmore disclosed that he and Ms. Williams would have been “happy” to have returned to earth on their original space craft, but said that they are just “fortunate and thankful” to have a seat on the SpaceX Dragon. “We’ll be coming home, riding the plasma, splashing in the ocean, so that’s what we’re looking forward to,” Mr. Wilmore said.

Mr. Wilmore, an active member and an elder at the Providence Baptist Church at Houston, has been in close contact with his pastor throughout the 10-month ordeal. Pastor Tommy Dahn tells the Sun that Mr. Wilmore has kept his faith during his time in space, confiding in his pastor that “the Lord has indeed been good through it all.”

Ms. Williams, who said that she is looking forward to reuniting with her beloved labrador retrievers, acknowledged that her unexpected ten-month stay was likely hardest on her family. “It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,” she said. “We’re here. We have a mission. We’re just just doing what we do every day, and every day is interesting because we’re up in space and it’s a lot of fun.”

Their plight was picked up by President Trump who in January claimed that they were “virtually abandoned by the Biden Administration.” A month later, Elon Musk chided that the astronauts were stranded for “political reasons.” Mr. Musk, who is the chief executive of SpaceX, claims that he offered to bring them home on one of his company’s spaceships, but that he was turned down by President Biden. NASA officials have not responded to their claims. 

The stranded duo — both of whom are retired Navy captains — have long insisted that they are in good health and are dedicated to completing their mission. During a March press conference, Mr. Wilmore responded to a question about the impact of space exposure on his body by quipping that his “joints don’t ache because there’s no pressure on them.”

In November NASA sent two resupply flights to restock the station with food, water, clothes, and oxygen, in addition to “special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform,” the space company agency announced. 

Upon their return, Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore will have spent 284 days in space, longer than the typical space mission maximum of six months. Their stint at the ISS, however, will not be breaking any international records. Last year, two Russian cosmonauts returned home after a continuous stay of 374 days. The year prior, another Russian duo completed a 370 day mission.