Long-delayed Starliner astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams and two space station crewmates braced for a fiery plunge back to Earth on Tuesday to finally close out a repeatedly extended nine-and-a-half-month space odyssey.

Starliner astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were stranded at the International Space Station for nine months, are back on Earth after splashing down Tuesday off the coast of Florida.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams set out for a weeklong mission at the International Space Station last year. After nine months, they are coming home.