The Starliner saga is a step closer to its end with the launch of a SpaceX vehicle that will relieve the astronauts who flew on the Boeing spacecraft.

Running two days late, a replacement space station crew blasted off Friday on a flight that sets the stage for Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to finally come home after nearly 300 days in space.

If Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore depart on schedule, they will have have spent more nearly 10 months in space, but it's not unheard of.