By switching the next space station crew to a different ferry ship, the Starliner astronauts will get home a bit earlier than planned.

NASA and SpaceX hope to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the International Space Station for more than seven months, home in March.  Read More

SpaceX and NASA under pressure to get a pair of Boeing Starliner astronauts home sooner than later announced Tuesday they have shifted plans for the next mission to the International Space Station.

NASA on Tuesday swapped out the astronaut capsule it plans to use for an upcoming routine flight to the International Space Station, a scheduling move that will allow a slightly earlier return for two Starliner astronauts who have been on the station far longer than expected.

The return of two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the International Space Station on Boeing's faulty Starliner capsule last summer, has hinged on the arrival of the Crew-10's four-person crew in order to keep the station's American contingent staffed at normal levels.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who is from Needham, could be coming home in mid-March because NASA will switch capsules for upcoming flights.

They’re finally coming down to Earth. Stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore will finally make it off the International Space Station after being stuck in space for more than nine months — and are due to come home next month,

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, the two Starliner astronauts who have had a prolonged aboard the ISS, are expected to return home in early March, according to NASA.