A SpaceX capsule sent to bring back two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) has docked.
The Dragon capsule, which has two empty seats for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, docked at 17:30 eastern time
The pair arrived at the station on Boeing's new Starliner capsule for an eight-day mission in June, but were forced to remain there because of a fault discovered during the flight.
The SpaceX Crew-9 mission was supposed to transport four astronauts to the ISS until two empty seats had to be opened up for Wilmore and Williams after the Boeing Starliner capsule they arrived on in June was deemed unfit to return them to Earth.
The two former military test pilots have been stuck on the ISS since then after the Starliner capsule suffered thruster failures and helium leaks. NASA decided it wasn't safe for the astronauts to return on Starliner, which was sent back to Earth empty earlier this month.
NASA switched Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX following concerns over the safety of the Boeing Starliner capsule they used to travel to the ISS.
It was the first Starliner test flight with a crew but NASA decided the thruster failures and helium leaks that happened after liftoff were too serious and poorly understood to risk the test pilots' return.
NASA also hired Boeing for ferry flights after the space shuttles were retired, but flawed software and other Starliner issues led to years of delays and more than $1 billion (€900 million) in repairs.
Starliner inspections are underway at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre, with post-flight reviews of data set to begin this week.Â
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