The two test pilots came to NASA via the Navy. Butch Wilmore, 62, played high school and college football in his home state of Tennessee. Suni Williams, 59, grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, and was a competitive swimmer and distance runner.

The SpaceX capsule that will bring them back down to Earth successfully arrived at the International Space Station – along with four new astronauts – on Sunday. The stuck astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will now be able to return home after a trip meant to last a few days became nine months on the orbiting lab.