A SpaceX capsule delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station early Sunday in a NASA crew-swap mission that will allow a pair of stuck astronauts to return home after nine months on the orbiting lab.

Reaching orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free.

The two astronauts who crewed the Boeing Starliner greeted their replacements, who docked at the International Space Station.

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Barry Wilmore, and Donald Pettit unbox Thanksgiving meals, from the International Space Station (ISS), in this screen grab taken from a handout video, released on November 26,

Just over a day after blasting off, a SpaceX crew capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday, delivering the replacements for NASA’s two stuck astronauts. The four newcomers—representing the U.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose intended 10-day stay at the International Space Station turned into nine months, welcomed SpaceX Crew 10 to the station over the weekend, setting the stage for Wilmore and Williams to return to earth as soon as this week.