Stranded Starliner astronauts will return to Earth next month: NASA

They’re finally coming down to Earth.Stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore will finally make it off the International Space Station after being stuck in space for more than nine months — and are due to come home next month, NASA announced.The two astronauts and a pair of space station crew mates — who were supposed to be in space for only about a week last year — will be able to return after a decision to switch to a different Crew Dragon spacecraft that can launch as early as March 12, CBS News reported.That’s about two weeks earlier than previous planned.

The replacement crew will need about a week to get up to speed before Williams and Wilmore can start their trip home with cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov and Crew 9 commanded Nick Hague, the outlet reported.For Williams and Wilmore, the flight home will conclude an unexpected “Lost in Space”-like saga that began with their June 5 launch on a mission to complete Starliner’s first piloted test flight.But the craft was plagued by propulsion problems and propellant leaks that required months of analysis.NASA hoped to bring them home this month but a yet another delay, this time in preparing the Crew 10 Dragon team, surfaced late last year.Concerns over the astronauts’ wellbeing surfaced in November, particularly as images from the space station showed Williams looking gaunt and tired during the extended stay.However, Williams dismissed the concerns in an interview with CBS Evening News this month.“I don’t think I’m abandoned.

I don’t think we’re stuck up here,” she said during the Feb.7 interview.

“We’ve got food.We’ve got clothes.

We have a ride home in case anything really bad does happen to the International Space Station.”Last month, President Trump blamed the Biden Administration for abandoning the astronauts in space and asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk, now a top advisor, to “go get” the pair.“Brave astronauts who have been...