'Stranded' NASA astronauts finally return to Earth after spending nine months stuck in space

After nine months on board the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have touched down back on Earth.

It was June 5, 2024 when the two astronauts waved goodbye to their loved ones down on Earth and blasted off for what they expected at the time to be an eight-day mission on the ISS, but Wilmore and Williams soon learned they wouldn't be returning home quite so soon.

The delay stemmed from the fact the Boeing vessel intended to bring them home was determined not to be safe enough to carry them, forcing the astronauts to watch as it instead returned home without them.

Recalling that moment in a September interview, Williams said: "We were watching our spaceship fly away."

NASA has explained that the reason it couldn't bring the astronauts home any sooner was simply due to a lack of budget, but now, with the help of Elon Musk's SpaceX, their time among the stars has come to an end.

Crew-9, Wilmore and Williams, have finally arrived back on Earth today, after SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully made it to the space station to collect them.

The moment the parachutes deployed for the splash landing (NASA)

The SpaceX Dragon Crew splashed down just off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, to a gorgeous blue sky after a 17-hour descent from space.

Their return means the astronauts will finally be reunited with their loved ones, with Williams having admitted in September that she missed her family and her two dogs.

However, the astronaut did also insist at the time that the ISS was her 'happy place'.

Wilmore and Williams expected to be in space for eight days (YouTube/NASA Video)

Williams also said that being in space made her think more about what was going on on the planet below, saying: "It opens up the door to making you think a bit differently. It's the one planet we have and we should be taking care of it.

"There are so many people on Earth sending us messages it makes you feel right at home with everybody."

Williams and Wilmore's long-awaited return comes after a previous plan to head out and bring the astronauts home on March 16 had to be pushed back due to a hydraulic ground issue.

The splash landing was a success (NASA)

The four astronauts set to travel to the ISS to take the places of Wilmore and Williams were strapped into the capsule and ready to go, but SpaceX decided to cancel the mission with less than an hour to go before the intended blastoff.

Now, crews will recover the capsule from the waters while the astronauts will make their last leg of the journey towards Houston, the hub of NASA's spaceflight operations.