'Wonderful' reunion ahead for astronauts as they splash back to Earth after months in space

In case you missed it... two astronauts stuck in space for more than nine months have finally returned to Earth.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams first blasted off to the ISS on 5 June, expecting to be up there for just eight days.

However, their problem-plagued Boeing Starliner posed too much of a risk for them to return to Earth, and they've been waiting to come home since then.

Although nine months is a long time to be in orbit, the pair aren't alone in facing extraordinary circumstances in space.

Read on here...

Another question on Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams - on when they'll be able to go home and whether they get time off. 

Steve Stich says they'll likely be able to go home tomorrow. 

"They'll get some well-deserved time off," he says, but not until they've done some debriefs. 

Back at the news conference, the NASA and SpaceX experts are asked their thoughts on Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. 

Steve Stich praises their resilience - with the pair stuck for nine months after being set for just a few days in space. 

"They became seamlessly part of the International Space Station... it shows their adaptability," he adds. 

He also praises their families for their patience. 

"I'm sure their reunion will be wonderful."

A few words from SpaceX boss Elon Musk...

Steve Stich is next to speak, and he offers a glowing report on the Dragon capsule's performance. 

"It was really clean," he says. 

The sequence went perfectly, he adds, noting only a small GPS issue was noticed. 

"The crew's doing great... eventually they'll make their way back to Houston," he adds. 

Stich also praises NASA partner SpaceX for their hard work. 

Joel Montalbano is first to speak.

He hails a "beautiful" landing and says it is "awesome" to have Crew 9 home. 

He praises them, saying their work will inform future moon missions. 

He adds that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore did 150 experiments and 900 hours of research during their stint on the International Space Station. 

We're under way in Houston, where senior NASA and SpaceX staff are giving a final briefing. 

You can watch along in the livestream at the top of this page, or read updates here in the blog. 

A reminder of who is speaking is in our last post. 

In about 15 minutes, we'll have a final briefing from senior NASA and SpaceX staff. 

We'll be covering it live. 

Here's who we're hearing from:

• Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA's space operations mission directorate
• Steve Stich, manager, NASA's commercial crew programme
• Bill Spetch, operations integration manager, NASA's International Space Station programme
• Sarah Walker, director, dragon mission management, SpaceX

Here's a reminder of the journey Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been on over their months in space - working yes, but also waiting to come home.

Here's a snapshot of the celebrations at Johnson Space Center in Houston after the successful splashdown earlier.