NASA and SpaceX hope on Friday to launch a long-awaited crewed rocket that will let them bring home U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, stuck on the International Space Station for nine months.

The crew of the infamous Boeing Starliner should be able to return to Earth in a matter of days with the imminent arrival of a replacement mission at the International Space Station. Four spacefarers who are part of a SpaceX mission known as Crew-10 are due to launch into orbit Wednesday night from Florida.

A shutdown would temporarily give the executive branch even broader powers over what government services are deemed "essential."