The Boeing Starliner Astronauts Are Headed Back to Earth After Nine Months

If you've ever been on a road trip that hit way more traffic than expected, then you know at least a little bit about what the Boeing Starliner astronauts have been going through. The astronauts, who were supposed to be in space for just nine days, have now been there for nine months, and are now headed back to Earth.

Following the news that the astronauts were finally headed back to Earth, many wanted to know more about when the astronauts might actually touch the ground again. Here's what we know.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded at the International Space Station for nine months after the Boeing Starliner capsule returned to Earth without them, are set to splash down on March 18 at approximately 5:57 p.m. ET, per CNBC. According to NASA's estimated schedule, that will be 19 hours after they close the door on the SpaceX capsule that's taking them back to Earth.

Butch and Suni got stranded at the ISS after the thrusters on the Starliner failed, leading to concerns about its ability to return to Earth. Ultimately, NASA scientists decided to send the capsule back empty so that they could understand what had happened to it.

Both are veteran astronauts, and NASA announced when it sent the Starliner back that the two would return on a SpaceX craft.

NASA also adjusted its rotation to accommodate them, removing to astronauts from SpaceX's Crew-9 mission to make room. The new crew of the ISS launched on March 14 and docked about 29 hours later.

Thankfully, Butch and Suni will be able to return home unharmed, although their extended journey might make them hesitant about returning to the ISS anytime soon.

It's unclear what kinds of future plans Boeing may have for its spacecraft program, but the company has reportedly already lost $2 billion on the Starliner project.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have made Butch and Suni's time at ISS into a political talking point and have urged NASA to send a crew to get them sooner than they actually did.

As SpaceX has become a dominant contractor for NASA in the agency's various space missions, Boeing was hoping to offer some healthy competition through its Starliner program. This mission, which stranded two astronauts for months, obviously throws a wrench in that plan, as does the fact that the astronauts are now being rescued by Boeing's only real private competitor in the space.

Barring anything unforeseen, though, both astronauts will be touching ground sometime on the evening of March 18. They might have understood the risks associated with heading into outer space, but their story has gone viral in part because they have been up there for such an extended period. It'll probably be a little weird for them to remember how gravity feels once they've finally got both their feet on the ground.