As Starliner astronauts prepare for return, look back at the mission's biggest moments

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A quick trip in June to the International Space Station stretched into an unexpectedly lengthy orbital stay for the two NASA astronauts who crewed the Boeing Starliner for a flight test.

For the past 10 months, news and speculation about the ill-fated spacecraft and its crew have captured the public's attention, with words like "stuck" and "stranded" becoming synonymous with the mission – perhaps unfairly so. It's a perception both NASA and it's astronauts have worked to debunk, with explanations about their training and preparedness to stay at the space outpost longer than planned.

But regardless of what words are used to describe the Starliner mission's crew, one fact is undeniable: They've been up in orbit for a very, very long time.

In fact, only five NASA astronauts have ever spent more consecutive days in orbit than the 277 days, as of Monday, that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been in space. That, of course, is much longer than the 10 days they were meant to be at the space station after they arrived aboard the Starliner, which Boeing is developing to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX in making routine trips to orbit on behalf of NASA.

Naturally, a lot has happened since then.

The pair of experienced astronauts, who in January participated in an exclusive interview with Paste BN, are finally due in the days ahead to return to Earth. If you need a catch-up or a refresher on their time in space, here's a lookback at some of the biggest moments from the Starliner mission.

Boeing Starliner launches from Florida on crewed test

As the two astronauts selected for the Starliner's first crewed flight test, Wilmore and Williams launched June 5 on a mission to test a vehicle intended to one day join the SpaceX Dragon in transporting NASA astronauts to orbit.

The highly-anticipated liftoff atop an Atlas V rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida came after several delays over the course of about a month due to troubles detected with the spacecraft, including issues with a valve in the rocket's upper stage.

Starliner crew reaches International Space Station

Wilmore and Williams reached the International Space Station the next day, June 6, where they were expected to remain for about 10 days before returning home.

But when they made it to the orbital outpost, engineers discovered a slew of helium leaks and problems with the craft's propulsion system that for months hampered Starliner's return to Earth.

NASA opts to send Starliner back without crew

Williams and Wimore's fate remained uncertain for months as NASA and Boeing deliberated on how best to get them home.

That decision came Aug. 24, when NASA officials announced that the Starliner wasn't safe enough to crew, and would instead undock empty and return to Earth. The move, a blow to Boeing's hopes of getting the vehicle certified for regular space travel, would also free up a docking port at the station for the spacecraft now tasked with bringing Wilmore and Williams back.

Under NASA's plan, the space agency selected a SpaceX Dragon bound the following month for the space station to transport Williams and Wilmore home.

Empty Starliner undocks, lands in New Mexico

The empty Boeing Starliner then undocked Sept. 6 and made its way back to Earth for a parachute-assisted landing in the New Mexico desert.

At the time, Boeing had plenty of work ahead to prepare the vehicle for routine spaceflight – including more ground tests and potential modifications to remedy its propulsion system woes. As of March, Starliner's future as a second operational vehicle for NASA to transport crews and cargo to the space station remains unclear.

SpaceX Crew-9 mission reaches ISS

On Sept. 28, a SpaceX mission known as Crew-9 launched on a short voyage for the International Space Station.

The six-month rotation missions to the outpost have become routine for both SpaceX and NASA, but this one had a little more significance. Instead of carrying a full continent of four spacefarers, the Dragon selected for the Crew-9 spaceflight carried only two – NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

The pair arrived a day after getting off the ground on a spacecraft bearing two extra seats for Williams and Wilmore. But instead of returning right away, the Starliner crew members were folded into the Crew-9 mission, and Williams even became commander of Expedition 72, overseeing all of the spacefarers now living and working at the space station.

The plan then became for Crew-9 to return in February with its two new members once Hague and Gorbunov completed their mission.

Starliner astronauts vote from orbit

Because NASA has long had plans in place for its astronauts to vote in U.S. elections, both Wilmore and Williams had the opportunity to cast their ballots for president in November.

"It's a very important role that we all play as citizens, to be included in those elections, and NASA makes it very easy for us to do that," Wilmore told reporters during a Sept. 13 news conference from the space station.

NASA delays Crew-9 return

Before Crew-9, which now includes Wilmore and Williams, can return to Earth, a mission known as Crew-10 must first arrive at the space station.

But the launch date for the Crew-10 mission, originally anticipated to get off the ground in February, has twice fluctuated since December.

NASA initially announced that the launch had been pushed to late March to give SpaceX more time to prepare a new Dragon capsule for liftoff. However, the launch date was moved back up to mid-March when NASA reconsidered and decided to use a "previously flown" Dragon named Endurance.

As of Monday, Crew-10 was expected to board the Dragon for a Wednesday night launch to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center. The Crew-10 team are expected to arrive at the ISS the next day, followed by a few days of handover activities before Crew-9 can return, which NASA said could be as early as Sunday, March 16.

Trump, Musk weigh in on Starliner astronauts

Since President Donald Trump took office, he and Musk have led to the politicization of the Starliner mission amid repeated assertions the the vehicle's crew were "abandoned" or "stuck" in space.

Both NASA and the astronauts have long attempted to set the record straight on that notion, including most recently during a February appearance on CNN with host Anderson Cooper.

Trump has also sought to take credit for their impending return, recently claiming that it was he who "authorized" Musk to retrieve the astronauts, despite the plan being in place before he was elected.

Suni Williams makes history on spacewalk

If it weren't for the extended mission, Williams would not have been able to set a record Jan. 30 during her ninth-ever spacewalk.

After she and Wilmore spent more than six hours venturing outside the space station, Williams has now spent a cumulative 62 hours and 6 minutes in the vacuum of space – more than any other woman in the world. Only three other people in the world have spent more cumulative time on spacewalks than Williams.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for Paste BN. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com