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 bumped up the return flight home plans for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission that includes a pair of astronauts who were left behind on the International Space Station by Boeing’s Starliner.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally returning from the International Space Station. But how did the Starliner mission go wrong in the first place? And why have its failings become politicized?