NASA astronauts Suni Williams, 59, and Butch Wilmore, 62, have begun their return to Earth after being stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nearly nine months due to a malfunction in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, carrying Williams, Wilmore, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, departed the ISS and is expected to land in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida after a 17-hour journey.

The astronauts initially traveled to the ISS for an eight-day test flight last June but were unable to return due to Starliner’s technical issues. The Biden administration faced criticism over the delay, with former President Donald Trump calling on Elon Musk for assistance.