Nineteen astronauts across three spacecraft are currently in orbit around Earth — a record in the history of human spaceflight. Two of them, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore of NASA, were not originally scheduled to be up there at this time.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule is set to undock from the International Space Station Friday — concluding a nearly three-month stay in space. But it will fly with an empty cabin.

They’re temporary extraterrestrials about to phone home. The NASA astronauts already trapped in space for months are due to call Earth on Friday afternoon to discuss their ongoing plight

The capsule, which returned without astronauts, and other space programs at Boeing have suffered many delays and cost overruns.

Boeing insisted after extensive testing that Starliner was safe to bring the two home, but NASA disagreed and booked a flight with SpaceX instead. Their SpaceX ride won’t launch until the end of this month, which means they’ll be up there until February — more than eight months after blasting off on what should have been a quick trip.

I sent down my request for a ballot today, as a matter of fact, and they should get it to us in a couple of weeks,” Butch Wilmore said.

Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams fielded questions from reporters Friday about the beleaguered Boeing Starliner capsule that they took to space.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spoke about their continued stay aboard the International Space Station during a press conference held yesterday. The two are now fully incorporated into the ISS crew,