The two astronauts stuck in the ISS could return to Earth around mid-March

Elon Musk to the rescue. The two American astronauts stuck since last June in the International Space Station (ISS) could return to Earth a little earlier than expected, around mid-March, NASA announced in a press release on Tuesday, February 11, after Donald Trump promised to bring them back as soon as possible.

Originally sent into space on an eight-day mission, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams , two space veterans, have been stuck on the ISS for more than eight months due to malfunctions in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that carried them.

After long weeks of testing, NASA decided in the summer to return the ship empty and to entrust the company SpaceX of multi-billionaire Elon Musk with the task of bringing back the two unfortunate people.

The latter, who has become a close advisor to Donald Trump, promised at the end of January to ensure that their return would take place "as soon as possible", echoing the words of the Republican who accused his predecessor Joe Biden of being responsible for this delay.

In September, a SpaceX mission named Crew-9 took off for the ISS with two passengers on board - instead of the four initially planned - to leave two seats free.

Crew-10, which is to replace them, was originally scheduled to leave in February but was postponed in December to "late March at the earliest" to allow for the finalization of a new spacecraft.

The mission should now take off on March 12 if everything is finalized in time, NASA announced on Tuesday, explaining that it had decided with SpaceX to "bring forward the dates" by "adjusting the initial plan."

It "will now use a previously flown Dragon (spacecraft), called Endurance," the agency announced, specifying that the astronauts' return would take place after a handover of several days between the two crews.

At a press conference in early January, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams assured that they were adjusting well to their extended stay and were busy with various scientific missions.

Although their stay in space has dragged on, they have not yet surpassed the record of American astronaut Frank Rubio , who spent 371 days aboard the ISS in 2023, instead of the six months initially planned for his mission, due to a coolant leak on board the Russian spacecraft scheduled for his return.