Travel Trouble
Stranded NASA astronauts close in on their return to Earth
Two NASA astronauts are just weeks away from their much-anticipated return to Earth after a gruelling nine months stuck on the International Space Station.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are waiting for their replacements to arrive at the ISS before they can depart later this month.
They'll be joined on their SpaceX ride home by two astronauts who launched by themselves last September alongside two empty seats.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Wilmore said that while politics is part of life, it did not play into his and Williams' return, moved up a couple weeks thanks to a change in SpaceX capsules.
US President Donald Trump and SpaceX's Elon Musk said at the end of January that they wanted to accelerate the astronauts' return, blaming the Biden administration for their unfortunate situation.
Williams said she can't wait to be reunited with her labrador retrievers, sharing that the hardest part about the unexpected extended stay was the wait by their families back home.
The trip Mr Wilmore, 61, and Ms Williams, 58, were on was designed to see how the new spacecraft performs before it is used more regularly.
However, problems emerged as it made its approach to the ISS, including leaks in its propulsion system and some of its thrusters shutting down.
Image credits: NASA
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