WATCH LIVE: NASA astronauts return to earth aboard SpaceX after nine months

Описание: The two astronauts who have been stranded in space for nine months are finally on their way back to earth.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore undocked from the International Space Station in a SpaceX Dragon capsule at around 3.05pm AEST on Tuesday.

Their homeward journey is expected to take about 17 hours with the capsule scheduled for splashdown off the coast of Florida, in the US, just before 8am on Wednesday.

The pair had originally planned for an eight-day mission when they left earth back in June last year, however engineers noted a helium leak and issues with the thrusters on the Boeing Starliner they were travelling on and so began their 286-day stay in space.