NASA removed two astronauts from its Crew-9 mission to allow for Williams and Wilmore to join the cohort, and return onboard the SpaceX Dragon − which carries four people at a time. The altered Crew-9 − only Hague and Gorbunov − launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon Freedom in late September.

SpaceX delivered a four-person crew to the International Space Station early Sunday, setting the stage for Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to depart.

NASA bumped up the return flight home plans for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission that includes a pair of astronauts who were left behind on the International Space Station by Boeing’s Starliner.