NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2024, are preparing to return home with Crew-9 after spending an unexpected, nine-month stay in space.

Wilmore and Williams will return on the SpaceX Dragon Freedom, the same spacecraft that transported the Crew-9 astronauts to the ISS. The astronauts' return is not a rescue mission, as their extended stay was planned last summer to accommodate crew rotation and space station operations.

A pair of US astronauts stuck for more than nine months on the International Space Station will be returned to Earth on Tuesday evening, NASA said.