India, March 18 -- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are beginning their journey back to Earth today after being stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months.

NASA's live coverage of the Earthbound journey showed Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore posing for their final photos aboard the station before they packed up and closed the hatches to begin a 17-hour trip back to Earth early on Tuesday.

After their autonomous undocking from the ISS, the astronaut crew is scheduled to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico at 5:57 PM ET Tuesday, with the exact location depending on local weather conditions. They will be flown to NASA's Johnson Space Center for a few da...