NASA set rescue mission date for astronauts who've been stranded in space for eight months

Stranded astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams can finally count their days in space — as the pair finally have a return date.

Last year, Butch and Suni were propelled into space for a quick trip onboard the first crewed flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule. The pair lifted off on 5 June and had anticipated to be away from home for around eight days.

But things haven't exactly gone to plan.

The Starliner ran into a number of technical issues during the mission, leading to the ship returning unmanned to Earth and the pair remained marooned on the International Space Station (ISS) ever since.

It's been a long eight months (NASA)

It's not like Butch and Suni haven't made the most of their unexpected stay in space, with the pair joining the ISS astronauts onboard Crew 9 and answering questions about what it's like to stay in space. However, being in space for an extended period of time — particularly when it's unexpected — will no doubt take a massive toll on the body, which means it's likely the pair are very much looking forward to coming home.

Thankfully for Butch and Suni, the end is finally in sight, as NASA has confirmed a target date of 12 March for their return mission to launch.

Confirming the news in a press release, the agency said: "The agency’s Crew-10 launch now is targeting Wednesday, March 12, pending mission readiness and completion of the agency’s certification of flight readiness process."

Which means the pair will be feeling the ground under their feet very soon.

However, we shouldn't get planning the welcome home party just yet as the space agency did note that everything is pending 'mission readiness', which means the date could still shift.

It's not long now the astronauts are back on Earth (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Fingers crossed for good weather and a smooth flight home for Butch, Suni and the Crew 9 astronauts.

NASA also confirmed the earlier return date was possible due to the decision to switch to a previously used SpaceX vehicle. The changeover had originally been planned to utilise the new C213 Dragon ship, however, a series of ongoing issues mean the mission wouldn't be able to take place until 'early April.'

"Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges," Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program said in the update, adding that 'operational flexibility' was down to their ongoing partnership with SpaceX.

"We greatly benefit from SpaceX’s commercial efforts and their proactive approach in having another spacecraft ready for us to assess and use in support of Crew-10," he added.