NASA astronauts stuck in space for nine months on way back to Earth

The two NASA astronauts who have been stuck in space for nine months are headed back to earth Tuesday in a SpaceX capsule that arrived for them this past weekend at the International Space Station. 

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore departed the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. ET, and are expected to be back on earth this afternoon, according to CNN.

They were scheduled to be in space for a week. However, safety concerns about the Boeing spacecraft in which they arrived resulted in the craft returning to earth unmanned and the astronauts remaining at the space station.