In March, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to return back to Earth after eight months in space.

What sounds like a routine part of astronaut life becomes significantly more unusual when you realise that their mission was only actually supposed to span the course of eight days.

The two astronauts, who are currently aboard the International Space Station, are expected to land back on Earth on March 19th. If all goes to plan, they will hitch a ride aboard the Crew-10 mission’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is scheduled to blast off from our planet on March 12th.

Last summer, Williams and Wilmore boarded the ISS via a flight on the Boeing Starliner, but the spacecraft experienced significant issues – including helium leaks and faulty thrusters – meaning that it wasn’t safe for the astronauts to return to Earth on it as scheduled.

Ever since, the pair have been stranded on the ISS. But they’ve had five other astronauts for company, with Americans Nick Hague and Don Pettit, and Russians Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov also aboard.

According to an article in the Washingtonian, however, the pair aren’t too upset to have been stranded in space.

In fact, their own reports and body language experts confirm that they are enjoying being part of the ISS crew, and taking part in a prestigious six-month mission rather than the eight-day jaunt they’d previously planned.

As members of the ISS crew, they take part in space walks, as well as obtaining valuable data for study by scientists back on Earth.

And, even though there have been concerns for their safety and welfare due to the rigorous pressures put on the body of an astronaut living in space, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman – who completed a stint on the International Space Station herself – explained in the article that the pair would have been very well prepared with multiple, gruelling expeditions (including in harsh environments like underwater and to the South Pole) all part of an astronaut’s training:

“You learn that the environment is going to demand 100 percent of you, and you have to figure out how to keep yourself whole over a long period of time. Creating that space where you can be your best self is part of our job.”

Although the astronauts have been working hard, Coleman confirmed, there is a lot of joy to making the most of every second of the once-in-a-lifetime experience:

“It’s almost like you’re a fish in an aquarium where it’s sort of dark and you’re gliding through this wonderful place. You can see someplace that you care about coming, and you can just twirl around and watch it going off in the distance.”

Due to the contractual nature of being sent into space though, Coleman suggested that it’s unlikely that Williams and Wilmore are earning any overtime payments as a result of their extended trip, receiving only their regular astronaut salary and a kind of extra payment (around $4) of the kind that most of us receive while on a business trip.

But the memories the pair are acquiring are surely priceless.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.