Sunita Williams set to return to Earth today

New York : With the two US astronauts stranded for over nine months on the International Space Station (ISS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has confirmed that the duo will return to Earth on Tuesday evening.

Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are to be transported home with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, which arrived at the ISS early Sunday.

NASA said in a statement on Sunday evening that it had moved forward the astronauts' anticipated ocean splashdown off the Florida coast to nearly 5:57 p.m. on Tuesday (21:57 GMT and 3:30 a.m., March 19, IST). It was initially slated for no sooner than Wednesday.

The duo has been on the ISS since June last year after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage suffered propulsion issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth.