NASA plans to return stranded astronauts from space earlier than schedule

LOS ANGELES -- NASA and SpaceX are accelerating the target launch and return dates for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from the International Space Station (ISS), which will bring the agency's stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back home.

The agency's Crew-10 launch now is targeting March 12, pending mission readiness and completion of the agency's certification of flight readiness process, NASA said on Tuesday.

The Crew-9 mission, consisting of Williams, Wilmore, NASA astronauts Nick Hague along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, is planned for return to Earth following a several day handover period with the newly arrived Crew-10 crew.

The previous launch date for Crew-10 was no earlier than late March.

The Crew-10 mission will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain, and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, to the space station.

The earlier launch opportunity is available following a decision by mission management to adjust the agency's original plan to fly a new Dragon spacecraft for the Crew-10 mission that requires additional processing time, according to NASA.

The flight now will use a previously flown Dragon, called Endurance, and joint teams are working to complete assessments of the spacecraft's previously flown hardware to ensure it meets the agency's Commercial Crew Program safety and certification requirements.

Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in space since June last year due to technical problems of Boeing's Starliner which took them to ISS.