CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s two stuck astronauts headed back to Earth with SpaceX on Tuesday to close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled Boeing test flight more than nine months ago.

Wilmore and Williams will return on the SpaceX Dragon Freedom, the same spacecraft that transported the Crew-9 astronauts to the ISS. The astronauts' return is not a rescue mission, as their extended stay was planned last summer to accommodate crew rotation and space station operations.