Four astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station after being sidelined by Boeing's Starliner trouble and other issues. SpaceX launched the U.S.-Japanese-Russian crew from Florida on Friday. They should reach the space station this weekend, replacing colleagues who launched in March as fill-ins for NASA's two stuck astronauts. Leading the taxi flight for NASA is Zena Cardman. She was yanked from a SpaceX flight last year to make room for Starliner's test pilots whose capsule was judged too dangerous to fly. Two of her crewmates were also training on Starliner, which remains grounded until next year.

On an episode of "The Story Behind the AP Story," Associated Press space writer Marcia Dunn discusses the space odyssey of NASA's two stuck astronauts. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally on their way home after more than nine months in space. Wilmore and Williams left the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule early Tuesday, checking out with two others. The capsule is due to splash down in the evening off the Florida coast, weather permitting. The astronauts will then be taken to Houston. The astronauts' return will close out a dramatic marathon mission that began with a bungled test flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule last June.

Four astronauts are back on Earth after a space station mission that lasted almost eight months. A SpaceX capsule carrying the crew parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast before dawn Friday. The three Americans and one Russian should have returned from the International Space Station two months ago, but were delayed by Boeing's Starliner crew capsule and weather. Shortly after splashdown, NASA said one of its astronauts had a medical issue. The space agency says the unidentified astronaut is in stable condition and remains at a Florida hospital as a "precautionary measure."