Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded at the International Space Station for nine months, closed the hatch to the SpaceX Dragon capsule Monday night to begin their journey back to Earth.

The astronaut crew is scheduled to travel back to Earth alongside Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to Earth after an extended stay at the ISS. They were delayed because of issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. They are set to arrive on Tuesday,

The Starliner crew was originally meant to stay on board the ISS for a week, but issues with Boeing's Starliner spacecraft severely delayed their return to Earth.

NASA removed two astronauts from its Crew-9 mission to allow for Williams and Wilmore to join the cohort, and return onboard the SpaceX Dragon − which carries four people at a time. The altered Crew-9 − only Hague and Gorbunov − launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom in late September.