Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are further closer now to return to Earth after a replacement crew docked with the orbital outpost on Sunday, NASA said.

Williams and Wilmore have been stranded in the International Space Station for over nine months now.

NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov entered the International Space Station shortly after opening the hatches between the space station and the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at 1:35 a.m. EDT, read the NASA website.

The new crew members were welcomed to the Space Station by NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Don Petitt, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Gorbunov, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner.

Hague, Williams, Wilmore, and Gorbunov will return to Earth after a brief handover period.

NASA said they are not expected to return to Earth before March 19.

Williams and Wilmore are stuck in the Space Station since June last year  after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing on its maiden crewed voyage suffered propulsion issues.

It was deemed unfit for flying them back to Earth.

More about Crew-10

McClain is the commander of Crew-10 and is making her second trip to the orbital outpost since her selection as an astronaut in 2013. She will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73 aboard the space station.

Ayers is the pilot of Crew-10 and is flying her first mission. Selected as an astronaut in 2021, Ayers will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73.

Onishi is a mission specialist for Crew-10 and is making his second flight to the space station.

He will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73.

Peskov is a mission specialist for Crew-10 and is making his first flight to the space station.

Peskov will serve as a flight engineer during Expeditions 72/73.