NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded in space for nine months, are just weeks away from returning to Earth.
They must wait for their replacements to arrive at the International Space Station next week before departing later this month.
Their SpaceX return flight will include two astronauts who launched last September with two empty seats.
Wilmore stated in a news conference that politics did not influence their return, which was moved up due to a change in SpaceX capsules.
President Trump and Elon Musk had previously pushed for an earlier return, blaming delays on the previous administration.
Williams disagreed with Musk’s recent suggestion to deorbit the space station in two years, emphasizing its ongoing scientific value.
She expressed excitement about reuniting with her dogs and noted that the hardest part of the extended stay was the wait for their families.
Wilmore and Williams originally expected a short mission when they launched last June aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule.
However, technical issues with Starliner forced NASA to deem it unsafe for human travel, and their return was further delayed by the need for a new SpaceX capsule.
NASA ultimately decided to use a previously flown SpaceX capsule, moving the next crew’s launch to next Wednesday.
After a week-long overlap at the space station, Wilmore and Williams will return with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov.
