With a fresh crew now aboard the International Space Station, the four fliers they are replacing — including long-delayed Starliner astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams — undocked early Tuesday for a long-awaited return to Earth,

The two test pilots came to NASA via the Navy. Wilmore, 62, played high school and college football in his home state of Tennessee before joining the Navy. Williams, 59, grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, a competitive swimmer and distance runner.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the International Space Station early on Tuesday morning in a SpaceX capsule for a long-awaited trip back to Earth, nine months after their faulty Boeing Starliner craft upended what was to be a roughly week-long test mission.