SpaceX arrives at International Space Station to rescue stranded astronauts but they still won't touch land until 2025

SpaceX has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) to rescue the stranded astronauts. However, despite having been up there for three months already, they still won’t touch land on Earth until 2025.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams expected to be gone for just over a week when they signed up for Boeing’s first astronaut flight in early June.

NASA ultimately decided that Boeing’s Starliner was too risky when thruster failures and helium leaks cropped up after lift-off.

It was then said that these were too serious and poorly understood to risk the test pilots’ return.

So, the spacecraft was returned empty to Earth earlier this month, with Wilmore and Williams remaining in space onboard the ISS.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will finally return to Earth in February (NASA)

And yesterday (29 September), their new ride home finally arrived.

SpaceX launched the rescue mission over the weekend using a downsized crew of two astronauts with two empty seats reserved for the stranded pair.

The Dragon, carrying NASA’s Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency’s Alexander Gorbunov, will now remain at the ISS until February. This means Wilmore and Williams’ original week-long trip will end up being a more than eight-month long mission by the time they can leave.

NASA said the capsule attached to the ISS in complete darkness while soaring 260 miles above Botswana last night.

Hague and Gorbunov won’t return with Wilmore and Williams though, as there will be a bit of a rotation of astronauts as to not interrupt other scheduled missions.

NASA rotates its space stations crews approximately every sixth months, which is why Wilmore and Williams are having to wait so long to get home.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule took-off to rescue the stranded astronauts (NASA)

Speaking before take-off, Hague explained that change is the one constant in human spaceflight: "There’s always something that is changing. Maybe this time it’s been a little more visible to the public."

Hague was put into the commander’s job for this rescue mission based on his experience and handling of a launch emergency six years ago.

Arriving in Cape Canaveral last week, the astronaut also said: "We've got a dynamic challenge ahead of us. We know each other and we're professionals and we step up and do what's asked of us."

NASA deputy program manager Dina Contella said the stranded pair watched the SpaceX launch from the ISS as Williams cheered ‘go Dragon!’.

While stuck up there, she and Wilmore said it had become their ‘happy place’.

“That’s how it goes in this business,” she said. “You have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.”