NASA astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore have been on the International Space Station for more than eight months, even though they initially expected to stay for just about eight days.

Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams have spent nine months aboard the International Space Station following the failure of Boeing’s Starliner mission. Their rescue rocket has finally been launched.

The replacements for NASA’s two stuck astronauts launched to the International Space Station on Friday night, paving the way for the pair’s return after nine long months. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams need SpaceX to get this relief team to the space station before they can check out.

NASA and SpaceX on Friday launched a long-awaited crew to the International Space Station that will let them bring home U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab for nine months.