We heard from Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back in September 2024 when they said they'd been trained to "expect the unexpected".

"This is my happy place," Williams said, but she admitted she missed her family and two dogs.

The pair thanked people for sending them messages and prayers. "The concern for us specifically is very heart-warming," Wilmore said.

Asked if they felt let down by Nasa, Wilmore replied "absolutely not".

Now, after more than eight months stranded in space we're set to hear from the pair of astronauts again about their return to Earth.

On 6 September last year, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft touched down on Earth after a successful return journey from the International Space Station - there was just one problem; the astronauts it was supposed to be carrying had been left behind.

The capsule suffered technical problems after it had launched, and it was deemed too risky to take the astronauts home.

In a news briefing following the landing, Nasa spokesperson Steve Stich said: "From a human perspective, all of us feel happy about the successful landing, but then there's a piece of us - all of us - that wish it would have been the way we had planned it.

He added there was "clearly work to do", and that it would take "a little time" to determine what will come next.

Boeing, meanwhile, released a statement saying it would "review the data and determine the next steps" forward for the programme.

The manager of the ISS Dana Wiegel also reassured the public that Wilmore and Williams were adapting well to their extended mission.

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This isn’t the first time hearing from the astronauts. They’ve done several press conferences since last June.

We are getting very close now to their planned return, so the pair may say something about those plans.

US President Donald Trump and his chief enforcer Elon Musk, who owns SpaceX, have suggested that former president Joe Biden had left the pair “virtually abandoned in space”.

However, plans for Suni and Butch’s return were made long before Trump took office.

But it is unlikely the two astronauts will answer questions about that today.

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Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have now been on the International Space Station (ISS) for 272 days.

Most space missions last around six months, so it is unusual to spend closer to nine months on the ISS.

But both Williams and Wilmore say they are happy to be there, and have thrown themselves into the science research and maintenance of the ISS that all astronauts contribute to.

In November Nasa said that two resupply flights had re-stocked the ISS with food, water, clothes and oxygen.

It also took “special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform”.

Today we are expecting to hear more about their planned return, which could be as soon as in the next two weeks.

Sunita "Suni" Williams

Suni was selected as an astronaut by Nasa in 1998 and is a veteran of two space missions before her current stay in the ISS, Nasa say. She also worked in Moscow with the Russian Space Agency on the Russian contribution to the space station.

She then branched out to work in the Robotics division. Williams spent a total of 322 days in space over the course of her previous two missions. With 50 hours and 40 minutes, she is second on the list of total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.

Barry "Butch" Wilmore

Butch is a veteran of two spaceflights and has accumulated 178 days in space, according to Nasa, however this figure may rocket as his latest voyage hasn't yet been fully tallied up. He was selected as an astronaut by Nasa in July 2000 and is a retired US Navy captain.

In his last mission, he served as a Flight Engineer for Expedition 41, and he assumed command of the ISS upon arrival of the Expedition 42 crew. He returned to Earth in March 2015. During this mission, he logged 167 days in space and performed four spacewalks.

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Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore blasted into space last June on an experimental spacecraft made by Boeing, expecting to stay on the International Space Station for eight days.

The spacecraft, called Starliner, was developed by the company for Nasa, and the flight was its first with astronauts on board.

But problems quickly developed. There were issues with the thrusters that propel it, and there were leaks of helium gas which pushes fuel into the propulsion system.

A running saga ensued as Nasa said it was looking at the technical issues, and the proposed return date moved later and later.

Eventually Nasa and Boeing agreed that they did not want to risk using Starliner to bring the pair home.

Instead they are expected to return to Earth on a SpaceX capsule. In January, Nasa said they were again delaying the astronauts’ homecoming because the SpaceX craft wasn’t ready.