The two NASA astronauts stranded on the International Space Station are now being driven home. A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS on September 29 and is scheduled to return to Earth in early 2025.

It's about Boeing's defective Starliner capsule that left astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore in space when it took off without them for safety reasons and landed at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on September 6 .

Here's what's next for the two veteran astronauts stuck on the ISS, as well as NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who joined them aboard the space station last weekend.

Who are the astronauts?

Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, are experienced astronauts, both naval officers and former test pilots. Williams has been a NASA astronaut since 1998, Wilmore since 2000. Both have plenty of experience in space.

Williams is the former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and longest spacewalk time by a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes), and ran the first marathon by a person in space in 2007.

In 2009, Wilmore piloted the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its mission to the ISS, and in 2014, he was part of the ISS crew that used a 3D printer to create a tool – a ratchet wrench – in space – the first person to do so off-world manufactured.

Wilmore and Williams aren't the only two astronauts stranded in space either – this week, the four members of NASA's Crew-8 got stuck Hurricane Milton delayed their return home. Crew-8 consists of three NASA astronauts – Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps – and a Roscosmos cosmonaut, Alexander Grebenkin. Their return was originally scheduled for October 7, but departure from the ISS was delayed until 3:05 a.m. ET on Sunday, October 13 at the earliest.

What do the astronauts say?

During a live press conference in September, Williams said that even though they both knew their mission would only last eight days, they had “trained for it for several years.” They are fully qualified to stay in space for an extended period of time and help pilot the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will bring them home next year.

“It's very peaceful up here,” Williams said Sept. 13, but added that they miss their families on Earth.

The astronauts work on research, maintenance and data analysis during their extended stay. They also intend to vote from space in November's presidential election.

“We’re having a great time here on the ISS,” Williams said in a press conference from orbit in July. “I'm not complaining. Butch isn’t complaining about us staying up here for a few more weeks.”

What was their original mission in space?

Wilmore as commander and Williams as pilot traveled to the ISS in a 15-foot-wide Boeing-made capsule called the Starliner. They launched on June 5th and docked with the ISS on June 6th. NASA hopes the Starliner will give the organization a new way to ferry crews to and from the ISS, and the fact that it was made by Boeing is another sign that NASA is starting to get its bearings New York Times reported that she criticized the private sector over its options for human spaceflight.

Wilmore and Williams' ISS mission was scheduled to last just eight days, during which they would test aspects of the Starliner and see how it performs in space with a human crew. But due to complications with Starliner, the two astronauts are still up there and won't be back until 2025. They were busy working with the crew of ISS Expedition 71 to conduct research and maintenance activities, NASA said.

How did they get stuck in space?

The Starliner's launch was delayed in May due to a problem with a valve in the rocket. Then engineers had to fix a helium leak. This is all bad news for Boeing. It competes with SpaceX, which has been transporting astronauts to the ISS since 2020 and has completed over 20 successful trips to the space station.

Starliner finally launched on June 5 on an Atlas V rocket, but there were some problems. NASA announced that three helium leaks had been identified, one known before the flight, and two new ones. In addition to the leaks, the crew had to troubleshoot the control thrusters, although the spacecraft was able to successfully dock with the ISS.

SpaceX also had failures. A Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad in 2016. In July, a Falcon 9 rocket experienced a liquid oxygen leak and sent satellites into the wrong orbit, the New York Times reported. And last week, a Falcon 9 rocket lost a first stage booster when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean and caught fire.

Nevertheless, SpaceX can look back on more than 300 successful Falcon 9 flights.

When and how will the astronauts get home?

NASA quickly emphasized that there was no danger to the astronauts.

“There is no rush to bring the crew home,” NASA said in a statement last month. “This is a lesson we learned from the space shuttle Columbia accident. Our NASA and Boeing teams are poring over data from further space and ground testing and analysis, providing data to mission managers to make the best and safest decision about how and when to return the crew home.”

NASA announced on August 24 that it had decided to return Starliner to Earth without a crew, and the spacecraft landed safely in New Mexico on September 6.

Wilmore and Williams will be brought home on the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft early next year and “will officially continue their work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew until February 2025,” the space agency said in a statement. “They will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft along with two other crew members assigned to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.”

Four crew members were originally scheduled to be on board for takeoff, but two remained behind to make room for Wilmore and Williams' return trip.

“Space travel is risky, even in its safest and most routine forms,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement Aug. 24. “A test flight is inherently neither safe nor routine. “The decision to keep Butch and Suni on board to the International Space Station and to bring Boeing’s Starliner home unmanned is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star.”

Stuck in space: a timeline

• May: Starliner launch is delayed due to a problem with a valve in the rocket and subsequent helium leak.
• June 5: Starliner takes off with Williams and Wilmore on board.
• June 6: Starliner docks with the ISS despite struggling with three helium leaks and failed control thrusters.
• September 6: Starliner leaves the ISS and lands in New Mexico. Williams and Wilmore stay behind.
• September 28: The SpaceX Crew-9 mission launches with Hague and Gorbunov on a Dragon spacecraft.
• September 29: SpaceX Dragon docks with the ISS.
• From February 2025: The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will return to Earth with Williams, Wilmore, Hague and Gorbunov.