Nasa astronauts stuck in space for eight months set to return to Earth in March

A pair of Nasa astronauts stuck on the International Space Station for more than eight months after a spate of technical faults plagued a two-week mission are set to come back down to Earth next month.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore arrived on the ISS on June 6 for the first crewed flight of Boeing's commercial space programme.

But their quick stay turned into a space odyssey when their Boeing Starliner craft suffered a series of helium leaks and thruster problems after docking.

US space agency Nasa said in August that both astronauts would be returned on a SpaceX Craft Crew Dragon, with a February date initially pencilled in.

That return trip was later extended to the end of March, but Nasa announced on Tuesday that a change in plans will allow the seasoned space explorers to end their prolonged voyage a little earlier, with a March 12 launch now targeted.

The schedule shift is being made due to a switch in capsules being used for upcoming astronaut flights to the ISS being carried out by SpaceX, operated by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

“Human space flight is full of unexpected challenges. Our operational flexibility is enabled by the tremendous partnership between Nasa and SpaceX and the agility SpaceX continues to demonstrate to safely meet the agency’s emerging needs,” said Steve Stich, manager of Nasa’s Commercial Crew Programme.

“We greatly benefit from SpaceX’s commercial efforts and their proactive approach in having another spacecraft ready for us to assess and use in support of Crew-10.”

Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore have supported daily duties on the orbiting laboratory while they awaited news of their return to Earth.

Ms Williams, a retired Navy captain, had logged 322 days in space before this mission and completed seven spacewalks totalling 50 hours and 40 minutes.

Mr Wilmore is a US Navy captain who had spent a total of 178 days in space. He was first selected as an astronaut in 2000.

The two astronauts completed a spacewalk together last month in order to carry out maintenance work on the station.