Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, two American astronauts, left Earth expecting to spend eight days on the International Space Station.

Their extended stay in space was caused by technical issues with their ship, a Boeing Starliner, on what was supposed to be a final test flight before the Starliner would be certified by NASA for regular use in missions. Their eight-day mission is now expected to last months.  After deeming it potentially unsafe for Williams and Wilmore to return in the Boeing spacecraft, the Starliner made its way home unmanned where it landed in the New Mexico desert.

Wilmore and Williams are both veteran astronauts, naval officers, and former test pilots. They said that even though they knew their mission was supposed to be eight days long, they had both been training for years for it. Both of them have plenty of experience being in space and they’re fully qualified to be in space for an extended period of time.

They are currently working on research and maintenance data analysis.  Wilmore and Williams now are sharing a space roughly the size of a six-bedroom house with nine other people. They report that they are keeping in good spirits and even planning to vote in November.